ONLY three out of five CCTV cameras are working in a city ward.

Conservative councillor Robert Nemeth, for Wish ward, condemned Brighton and Hove City Council for allowing the law enforcement cameras to fall into disrepair.

No spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council was available for comment.

Cllr Nemeth has raised the issue following a visit to Sussex Police’s CCTV command centre in Lewes.

The purpose of Cllr Nemeth’s visit was to view live footage from the five cameras that watch over Wish ward, whose residents he represents.

Upon arrival though, Cllr Nemeth was informed that two of the five cameras in Wish were not working at all and another was only working intermittently.

The control centre is manned by a dedicated team of professionals who spend day and night scanning a bank of monitors.

Operatives are able to detect crimes as they happen, or following referrals from colleagues.

The set-up operates by means of a series of partnership arrangements.

In the case of Brighton and Hove, Sussex Police is responsible for monitoring footage and Brighton and Hove City Council is responsible for providing and maintaining cameras.

Five cameras are situated in Wish Ward: In Portland Road, Portslade Station, Boundary Road, Kingsway and Hove Lagoon. Sussex Police provides a fully-managed system and as such is responsible for reporting faults and making sure that these are being fixed as set out within a service level agreement.

The city council has its own control room centre that concentrates on traffic enforcement matters.

Cllr Nemeth said: “I was incredibly impressed with the set-up at Sussex Police’s Lewes headquarters but sad to see that Brighton and Hove is not upholding its side of the bargain with regard to maintaining CCTV equipment.

“With so much vehicle crime in my ward at the moment, we need it to be working if we are to catch the perpetrators.”

Sue Johnson, secretary of the Friends of Hove Lagoon, said: “I have received a number of complaints and questions about the CCTV in our area, which we rely on to keep residents and visitors safe. I look forward to an urgent reassurance that all is working as it should be.”

Britain is one of the most watched countries when it comes to cameras per head of population. Because of a lack of regulation it is impossible to put an exact figure on the number but it is thought to be up to six million.