FRUSTRATED families have complained about the lack of progress in making Rayleigh safer with CCTV promised but not delivered.

Residents are calling on authorities to act quickly to install more CCTV in the centre of the town after two people were stabbed in a brawl in High Street.

Echo:

Takes time - Jamie Burton, of Rayleigh Independents, said the issue of CCTV is “on the council’s radar”

It happened at 3.20am on Sunday, August 25. One man suffered serious injuries and another had minor stab wounds. Two men were arrested and have been released under investigation.

Earlier in the month, gunshots were reportedly fired in Station Avenue which resulted in two people being arrested.

Heather Donnington, 67, of Warwick Road, said: “We lived in north London, before we retired to Rayleigh, which we do think is a lovely place to live.

“However, we have witnessed the sort of thing where big groups seem to run riot with no restrictions, and before you or anyone else knows it, the situation gets well out of hand.

“It is something that we do not wish to live through in Rayleigh. People should not be taking their eye of the ball.”

A spokesman for Rayleigh Residents’ Association said: “Our frustration is, as I’m sure most of the residents feel, is why it is taking so long to sort.

“I think a large chunk of Rayleigh would agree CCTV is a must especially after the stabbing.

“There are different opinions on what kind of system, and no one seems to know cost and benefits of each system.

“We’ve been pushing this probably for six months and from what I know all our council have done is visit Southend CCTV control room to see how their system works.”

Rayleigh town councillor and former chairman Jack Lowman supports the notion of CCTV.

He said: “The problem is the lack of evidence we can get to prosecute the criminals.

“CCTV would be a great way to gather the evidence.

“In this day and age, it would not be hard to get the technology needed to install it.

“I’m all for it. I don’t understand why anyone would object to it.”

Jamie Burton, of Rayleigh Independents, said the issue of CCTV is “on the council’s radar” but would take time to introduce.

He said: “Reintroducing CCTV in High Street isn’t a straightforward and quick decision.

“It does take an awful lot of time, it’s expensive agreeing who will manage the cameras, especially after the introduction of GDPR, that throw’s a real spanner in the works.

“But I think the aim is to have increased CCTV as soon as possible to act as a deterrent.

“It has been used before, but it was taken away for several reasons, one being that there wasn’t enough crime going on.

“The incident over the bank holiday weekend was quite isolated, we do not think it will be an ongoing issue.

“I still believe Rayleigh to be a safe place to live, we also have the Pubwatch scheme where the landlords meet regularly to identify people who have caused disruption before, to encourage them to not drink more and go home.

“That’s something they asked for, it wasn’t a case of passing the baton.” The issue is being considered by Rochford Council and Rayleigh Town Council.