Skip to content

Council accused of blackmail in town CCTV row

Alec Doyle
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Getty Images A gold finch bird sits atop close circuit cameras that are protected by a waterproof green coveringGetty Images
CCTV coverage is part of all councils' obligations to help reduce crime

A town could be left without CCTV coverage because of a contract row between two councils.

Flintshire council has threatened to "remove coverage" from Connah's Quay unless a previous bill for the service is settled by the town's council.

Connah's Quay town councillors voted to stop payments in September after claiming there was no contract or agreement with one representative, Alan Manship, calling the threat to remove CCTV "more or less blackmail".

Flintshire council said: "These discussions are part of an ongoing contractual matter between the two councils and as such should remain confidential while we work to reach a resolution."

A new agreement has been signed for the 2025-26, including an upgrade of cameras, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

But Connah's Quay council said it was waiting for evidence of a legal agreement proving it was obliged to pay Flintshire council for the remainder of the 2024-25 financial year.

In a strongly worded email read to town councillors, Flintshire council chief executive Neal Cockerton wrote: "Should payment not be forthcoming, I am minded to instruct that coverage is removed."

Mr Manship said he felt this was "really out of order".

Town council clerk Suzanne Wilson said she had held her role since 2022 and had "never signed anything".

She added: "If you want payment from us we need proof of signature."

The council paid about £6,600 from April to September 2024 when it voted to stop payments.

On the left, a police car is parked outside a block of red-brick flats. On the right shows a teenage boy with dark hair wearing a dark suit and tie. A hand rests on his shoulder.
Matthew Cassidy, 19, from Merseyside, died after being stabbed nine times in the stairwell of a block of flats in Connah's Quay in 2017.

CCTV has played a vital role in crime prevention and police investigations in Connah's Quay.

The 2017 murder of Matthew Cassidy by two drug dealers relied on images captured by CCTV to identify witnesses, two vehicles connected to the case and, ultimately, the killers themselves.

Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales Andy Dunbobbin, also a Connah's Quay town councillor, said: "It's important to note there is a responsibility on local authorities where councils have to have due regard of the need to reduce crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour."