THE police and crime commissioner has promised the return of CCTV to Aberystwyth, but could not put a date on when it might happen.

Speaking to councillors at a meeting of Aberystwyth Town Council last week, Dafydd Llywelyn, the Plaid Cymru PCC for Dyfed-Powys, said he understood the frustration over how long it was taking for CCTV to return.

The previous commissioner Christopher Salmon stopped CCTV monitoring after a report said removing cameras would not result in significant rises in crime.

But Mr Llywelyn made the return of CCTV a cornerstone of his election bid, and announced a seven per cent hike in the police precept to pay for it.

Addressing councillors’ questions, Mr Llywelyn said that it was taking longer than he would like for a number of reasons, including to ensure the system did not become technologically redundant with a few years.

“To be very honest with you, the project has been slower in developing than I am happy with.

“It is not just a matter of looking at the old cameras and turning them back on. The new system will have HD cameras and we have to go out to tender for the work.

“The cameras will need to be monitored. We can put cameras up in every street but that won’t be effective if they aren’t monitored.

“We are now moving into the second phase of a two to three-year process where towns should soon be seeing CCTV."

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