Wickford's vandal-hit Memorial Park could soon be covered by crime-busting spy cameras.

Basildon Council has put in a bid for Home Office funding to set up a CCTV system in the park, off Runwell Road.

It wants to install a number of cameras in the play areas and at Highcliffe community centre in the hope they will deter vandals and graffiti artists.

Council officer Cliff Thornton said: "We have entered the next round of bidding and included an outline scheme for Wickford Memorial Park.

"It is the re-working of a scheme we tried to do several years ago in the Highcliffe Road area when the council invested £70,000 in a play area."

The council will find out later this month whether its bid has been successful. If so, the authority will have to enter a second bidding round and submit more detailed plans. Work can begin on installing the cameras if those proposals are approved.

The memorial park has suffered badly at the hands of young hooligans in recent months. Buildings particularly targeted have included Table House, which used to be holiday home for disadvantaged children but is now boarded up.

Wickford Tory councillor Malcolm Buckley said he was fully backing the bid.

He said: "We should endorse this. Many of the buildings in and around the park have been badly attacked by the spray artists."

PC Geoff Whiter, from Wickford police, said: "We support the bid and we are fully in favour of extending the CCTV system to areas which have not yet been considered."

The police have also been trying other methods to halt the graffiti plague in the park. They are working with local historians and the Royal British Legion to teach youngsters about the soldiers honoured there.

They hope that if the yobs responsible realise the men commemorated were in many cases just teenagers like themselves when they died, they might show more respect for their memorial.

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