THE fate of crime prevention in Skipton was in the hands of the Government last night.

The town's bid to have closed circuit television installed was taken to the Home Office, which has to decide whether or not to grant the £64,000 needed to get the scheme up and running.

The other half of the £136,000 needed has been raised from the coffers of Craven District Council and North Yorkshire Police, together with £15,000 pledged by local businesses.

Many traders and organisations in Skipton have contributed, knowing that CCTV would ease the town's many crime-related problems, including drug dealing, shoplifting, vandalism and violence.

But most of the big, chain store names in the town have been criticised for refusing to contribute to the scheme, even though they will benefit should a system be installed.

Bill Houghton, treasurer of the local Chamber of Trade, said: "I took it upon myself as a member of the Crime Prevention Panel in Skipton, to visit some of the larger multiple retailers as they hadn't committed or pledged any financial support to the CCTV bid.

"I was terribly disappointed with the response and the lack of support from them, in contrast to the market traders and small business who have dug deep to support this community effort."

Caroline Taukulis, the council's economic development officer, was in Whitehall last night to make sure the Home Office had Skipton's bid before the absolute deadline of 5pm today.

The Government has a £1million fund to be dished out to the most worthy CCTV cases up and down the country. The more Skipton raises, the better its scheme will be.

Miss Taukulis told the Herald that the Skipton bid is, "looking quite strong".

She added: "When I have talked to other schemes in other towns they have got hardly anything at all to offer from the private sector.

"Thirsk's bid was for £229,000 and they only raised £2,500 privately, but the Home Office accepted it."

Support for the scheme in the local community is seen as an important criteria for attracting Government funding.

Schemes which have gone ahead in places like Thirsk, Selby and Harrogate have seen a substantial decrease in crime and violence and shoplifters are known to be targetting towns where there are no cameras to keep an eye on their activities.

If Skipton's bid fails this time, the town seems certain to miss out for good as the Government has announced it will not repeat its matched funding scheme in future.

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