THE "unfair" attitude to the cost of CCTV in Princes Risborough has caused outrage among town councillors.

Cameras were installed in 2007 and Princes Risborough is now the only town in the Wycombe district having to contribute towards maintenance costs of £16,000 a year.

High Wycombe, Marlow and Hazlemere have their full maintenance costs paid for by Wycombe District Council.

Mayor Alan Turner wants Princes Risborough to be treated the same as other towns.

He said: "We feel it is very unfair when we have to pay when no one else has to. We want to be treated the same as everywhere."

Cllr Turner wrote to cabinet member Cllr K S Wood who said that WDC had fully funded five of the eight cameras and that the other three were deemed unnecessary and therefore were Princes Risborough's responsibility.

Mr Turner said: "I can categorically state that, although PRTC had sought a total of 11 cameras throughout the town, we reluctantly agreed to the placement of eight cameras, which was the absolute minimum for the system to be effective, as advised by WDC’s own Head of CCTV Control, the Siemens consultant engineer and the then TVP inspector in charge of neighbourhood policing.

"They are denying everything and saying no, that it is, we are not going to consider it.

"We will have to keep plugging away and we will do. I think it will be an uphill struggle."

Spokesman for Wycombe District Council, Catherine Spalton, said the PRTC contribute 40 per cent towards the annual maintenance and monitoring of the cameras, and the rest is funded by WDC.

She added the CCTV systems in Marlow, High Wycombe and Hazlemere were installed at a time when the Home Office awarded funding for CCTV.

She said: “As such these councils do not contribute to the maintenance of the system as this was not a necessary requirement when they were installed.

“Unfortunately, this source of funding is no longer available and was not available to cover the cost of the scheme in Princes Risborough.

“The financial contribution to the maintenance of the cameras was agreed by Princes Risborough Town Council before the scheme was introduced.”