SPY cameras should be installed at two Worcester play areas to help defeat the blight of vandalism, says Worcester MP Mike Foster.

Mr Foster is worried play areas in Great Oaty Gardens, Warndon, and Whitmore Road, St John's, are quickly becoming easy targets for yobs and says the city council has Government cash to tackle it.

Older youths are descending on the play zones at night to damage the equipment and indulge in anti-social behaviour.

Mr Foster said: "It is simply unacceptable that play equipment is being vandalised and that local residents are having their lives blighted because they live near to these playgrounds.

"Installing CCTV cameras that would monitor what goes on, is a solution to the problem.

"Parents will have a greater sense of security, knowing that their children are being protected by the CCTV.

"Local people will no longer have to face a torrent of problems caused by a minority of yobs."

Mr Foster wants Guildhall bosses to use some of the £84,000 bonus money' the authority had from the Government in February to help pay for it.

As we reported in May, the city council has put the money into the reserves - and has already turned down a request to spend it on reviving a monthly disco for young people.

Mr Foster said: "The council hasn't spent it. Indeed they don't know what to do with it so here is my suggestion - provide CCTV cameras for local playgrounds in Worcester, starting at Great Oaty Gardens."

Great Oaty Gardens, in Warndon Villages, has recently been given new state-of-the-art play equipment at a cost of £30,000.

As the Worcester News reported in January, the city council is spending £100,000 on extra CCTV cameras in Worcester this year to add to the 63 it currently has.

It has drawn up a shortlist of sites that could get the new CCTV, but it does not include either of the play areas.

Coun Simon Geraghty, leader of the city council, said: "There are so many potential ways of spending the £84,000 but the council has made it clear it will be put in reserves until the next Government spending round has been announced.

"I wouldn't dispute that Warndon suffers from anti-social behaviour, but we would need to look at the evidence before we go down this line."

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