NO money has been set aside by Colchester Council to fix out-of-town centre CCTV, despite a murder yards from a broken camera.

The council has budgeted £45,000 to improve cameras within the town centre network, but nothing has been agreed for elsewhere.

A major review of CCTV took place after the Gazette exclusively revealed subway cameras close to where Nahid Al-Manea was murdered had been left broken for years.

Other cameras around playgrounds and parks, were faulty or had been stolen and not replaced. Some were never checked, so had fallen into disrepair.

The review started in September and has been completed.

A spokesman for the Safer Colchester Partnership said: “We have looked at the costs and issues associated with CCTV operation and will make a decision on what additional provision (if any) can be agreed at the March meeting of the Responsible Authorities Group.’’

Essex University student Nahid, 31, was murdered on the Salary Brook Trail on June 17 last year. No one has been convicted of her murder. A camera and another nearby were, and remain, broken.

Detectives were forced to rely on CCTV further away, including those put in place by Essex University and shops.

Speaking at the start of the review, Pam Donnelly, chairman of the partnership, said: “CCTV cameras have fallen into disrepair. We took a look to see whether there was a case for the partnership to commission some more cameras.

"We considered where they might go, the cost of repairs, the cost of maintenance and the cost of ensuring a live feed goes into the control room.”

However, the partnership only gets £40,000 a year for all its activities and funding for out-of-town CCTV would have to come from various authorities.

  • Dozens of potential murder witnesses have not come forward, despite being captured on CCTV around the time and place the crime took place.

Ninety three potential images were released by police in conjunction with the Gazette in November, but 44 are still outstanding. To see whether you are one of those to whom police want to speak to visit http://www.essex.police.uk/news_features/features_ archive/2014/november/nahid_ almanea_murder_-_cctv_re.aspx