COLCHESTER’S broken-down out-of-town CCTV cameras could be fixed and hooked up to the main town centre network if a crime prevention group agrees to fund the work.

The news comes after the Gazette reported many cameras outside Colchester Council’s town centre network, were not being maintained and some no longer worked.

Broken units included a camera at the Clingoe Hill underpass, just 50 yards from where Saudi student Nahid Al-Manea was murdered in June.

That camera had been out of action for two-and-a-half years.

Pam Donnelly, chairman of the Safer Colchester Partnership, is looking for a way to fix or replace the broken cameras.

She also wants to look at linking them to the council’s CCTV centre so they can be constantly monitored, like those in the town centre.

Wrong time on CCTV cameras hampered murder investigation

For the full story, see Thursday's Gazette