YORK'S CCTV nightmare will come before council chiefs next week when a leading figure attacks the Evening Press over its coverage of the crisis.

A motion at next week's full council meeting will ask council leader Steve Galloway whether our story, about the shoddy state of the city's network, had benefited local criminals.

The question, from Huntington councillor Keith Hyman, pictured, came only days after the Evening Press exclusively revealed how more than a third of the city's CCTV cameras were out of order.

We found that almost a dozen cameras were not attached to a recording machine, six could barely see in the dark and others were crippled by mechanical faults.

York MP Hugh Bayley called on city leaders to address the faults as a matter of "great urgency".

Coun Galloway will be asked to give his views at a Guildhall meeting on Tuesday.

Coun Hyman's motion asks: "Would the council leader comment on the claims made in the local media about the serviceability of CCTV cameras in the city and would he agree that the publication of claims about individual cameras is likely to be of value only to local criminals?"

Many readers have backed our stance, with letters thanking the Evening Press for its coverage. The Evening Press highlighted the matter of "enormous public concern" to refocus attention - and resources - on an issue of major national importance.

Speaking before the meeting, Coun Hyman said: "There was a danger from our point of view, and that of the police, that you were saying to people 'the cameras aren't working'. We have a problem with antisocial behaviour in certain areas. From what we were told, there was already a programme under way to fix the cameras - and it's ongoing at the moment."

Coun Hyman, head of a council scrutiny committee, then said: "We want York to be seen as a safe city. The reality is that crime has fallen, the perception is that it's still the same. We need to reassure the public that CCTV cameras are working."

Kevin Booth, editor of the Evening Press, said: "We stand by our decision to identify cameras with problems. It was important that ordinary members of the public were aware of those not providing proper cover.

"Only recently, we have carried stories about attack victims who discovered that what happened to them was not captured on film. They said it was like being mugged a second time. We didn't want anyone else to have to feel that way."

A City of York Council spokeswoman said: "The repairs are on schedule and all faults, with the exception of one, will be rectified by the end of next week."

Updated: 10:54 Wednesday, January 19, 2005