A YOUTUBE video film has persuaded town councillors to rethink plans for closed circuit television (CCTV) at two recreational sites in Petersfield.

Petersfield Town Council (PTC) remains keen on installing CCTV cameras at the Love Lane and Avenue sites after one of the worst summers for anti-social behaviour in recent memory.

Quotes ranging from £15,100 to £20,500 were provided when three specialist suppliers were approached by members of the council’s Grounds Committee.

But a newly-formed working party looks set to focus on another firm after they were given a presentation and advice by councillor and CCTV expert Paul Strawbridge when they met last Thursday in the town hall.

Mr Strawbridge, who is not a member of the committee, told councillors he was “very disappointed” with the three suggested systems as the quality of their night-time recordings was poor.

Neither showed a clear facial image, prompting the councillor to play a YouTube film of another CCTV system with infra-red capabilities. The image quality impressed the watching committee while he claimed the price of the system he showed would be around the same as those already quoted to PTC.

Mr Strawbridge said: “We were after images that would allow us to make positive identification, especially at night-time, but I don’t think the cameras we have here are going to do the job.

“Any camera will give us a good daytime image but night will be a problem, especially at Love Lane, as there’s no light there whatsoever.

“I think we should take another look at the type of camera we want and where they should be.”

Members agreed to set up a working party of Cllr Strawbridge, Cllr Jamie Matthews and offices and committees manager Steve Field, as they want to get a system installed sooner rather than later.

Committee chairman Lesley Farrow began the meeting by refuting the police’s claim that the frequency of anti-social behaviour at Love Lane and The Avenue during the summer wasn’t as bad as PTC and their head groundsman, Dugg Budd, previously reported.

Mr Budd reported at the committee’s previous meeting that this summer has been the worst for anti-social behaviour in his PTC career, while town clerk Neil Hitch said the cost of cleaning up and making repairs has exceeded £1,000.

Cllr Farrow said: “I know and value Dugg’s opinion and I’ve never felt we’ve had as much trouble and anti-social behaviour as we’ve had this year.”

Councillors also heard that the public toilets at The Avenue will be locked for the foreseeable future, on police advice, as Mr Hitch said it was believed that people are using the facilities for “things they shouldn’t be doing”.