OVERTON Parish Council has agreed to set aside £4,000 in next year's budget towards the installation of CCTV in the village.

Councillors heard discussions had taken place with representatives from the Hampshire Police Authority and village bobby Pc Paul Green, who suggested three cameras should be installed - one outside the community centre forecourt, one focusing on Winchester Street and another on the High Street.

The project is expected to cost between £10,000 and £12,000, although Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council should provide £5,000 funding and a Police Authority grant of up to £4,000 should be available.

But Cllr Peter Baker, who is also chairman of the Overton business Association, said traders in the area would prefer better policing in the village.

"The consensus of opinion among the 21 business people at our meeting was CCTV is being pushed by the police as a poor substitute to proper policing.

"We would rather they looked into providing a proper police presence rather than a camera which is not checked regularly.

"We seem to think the quality would be very poor and the complaints the business people have had with the quality of policing over the last two or three years has left a lot to be desired."

Cllr Ian Tilbury added: "We all want more police in the area but we're not going to get them.

"We shouldn't have to rely on CCTV to catch the criminals committing the offences but it might be the only thing we're going to get."

A working party will now be set up to push the project forward.