A DOORMAN in York city centre said his colleagues and the public are being put in danger by a shortage of CCTV operators.

His concerns came after it emerged that on a number of occasions last week, including Friday and Saturday evening, the CCTV control room was not staffed.

The doorman, who asked not to be identified, contacted The Press to say he had been informed by police officers that the cameras were also unmanned all day on Thursday.

He said: “We just feel a bit vulnerable out there.

“It’s something we rely on to be able to know what pubs people are going to.

“If we have an incident in a pub we put a description of the people on to the CCTV controllers. Or if we are in the middle of an incident we need the cameras on us because we might be bringing someone out.

“It’s not only for the safety of the door staff, but the safety of the public too.”

He said without the back-up from cameras on busy Friday and Saturday nights, door staff had to alert police themselves when trouble erupted in bars or clubs.

“If we shout up they (the camera operators) are straight on to things for us; they have been more than invaluable to us.”

The CCTV cameras are operated by City of York Council.

Yesterday a spokesman said: “The council’s CCTV cameras record on a constant 24-hour basis irrespective of whether or not the control room is staffed.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, the CCTV control room was unmanned for a period of time last week.

“The council is committed to working with the police to protect the safety of residents and visitors and round the clock monitoring of the CCTV cameras forms a major part of that work.”