Somerset CCTV catches almost 700 incidents including playground fire
The service, funded by city, town and parish councils across Somerset, plays a major role in crime prevention
Somerset Council’s CCTV operators have helped stop a potentially serious incident after spotting a fire beneath a children’s climbing frame in Bridgwater, one of nearly 700 incidents they’ve reported to police in just three months.
The fire, discovered last Wednesday (12 November) in Northgate, was believed to have been deliberately started.
CCTV staff immediately alerted police, allowing firefighters to respond before the flames could spread and cause significant damage.
The swift response is one of 690 incidents reported by the team to emergency services between September and November.
During the same period, police requested CCTV footage 391 times to support ongoing investigations, while operators proactively detected 408 incidents themselves.
The service, funded by city, town and parish councils across Somerset, plays a major role in crime prevention, emergency response and community safeguarding.
Cllr Federica Smith-Roberts, Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Communities, Housing and Culture, said: “These figures underline how vital our CCTV operators are to community safety.
“Thanks to their hard work and dedication criminals are being apprehended, serious incidents are being prevented and vulnerable people supported.
“We are grateful for the continued support and funding we receive from our town, city and parishes councils, alongside this we recognise the importance of having state-of-the-art technology and are rolling out upgrades across the service.”
In the Bridgwater incident specifically, Cllr Tim Mander, Chair of Bridgwater Town Council’s Amenities Committee, praised the operators’ quick action.
“We are appalled by these senseless acts of vandalism, but we are immensely proud of the vigilance shown by the CCTV team and the swift response from the fire service.
"Their quick actions prevented what could have been a far more serious incident. Our parks should be safe havens for children and families, and we will continue to do everything possible to protect and maintain them.”
Several CCTV systems across the county, including Burnham-on-Sea and Street, have recently been upgraded to high-definition cameras, with further improvements underway in Taunton, Wellington and Shepton Mallet.