Hartlepool Borough Council appeal after street lights and CCTV column are chopped down by vandals

Council officials in Hartlepool have issued an appeal following a series of incidents in which street lights and a CCTV column have been chopped down.
By Madeleine Raine
Published 25th Mar 2024, 12:25 BST
Updated 25th Mar 2024, 13:15 BST
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Two streetlights – that also had traffic monitoring cameras attached to them – were cut down on Seaton Lane on March 5, and on Coronation Drive on February 22.

The CCTV column in Thomlinson Road was also cut down overnight between March 20 and March 21.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Equipment such as an angle grinder is believed to have been used to cut through the metal columns on each occasion.

This streetlight - with traffic monitoring cameras attached, was cut down on March 5 on Seaton Lane, in Hartlepool.This streetlight - with traffic monitoring cameras attached, was cut down on March 5 on Seaton Lane, in Hartlepool.
This streetlight - with traffic monitoring cameras attached, was cut down on March 5 on Seaton Lane, in Hartlepool.

These columns were then left at the scene with their lights and cameras still attached.

Sixteen streetlight columns on the Longhill Industrial Estate, in Windermere Road, have also been tampered with over recent months and had their fuses removed.

Kieran Bostock, Hartlepool Borough Council’s assistant director of neighbourhood services, said: “I am shocked that people would commit such mindless and reckless vandalism which has the potential to put the lives of those responsible and members of the public at risk.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“In chopping down the roadside columns, the vandals had to cut through live wires and they had no control over where the severed columns would fall.

This CCTV column, in Thomlinson Road, Hartlepool, was cut down overnight between March 20 and 21.This CCTV column, in Thomlinson Road, Hartlepool, was cut down overnight between March 20 and 21.
This CCTV column, in Thomlinson Road, Hartlepool, was cut down overnight between March 20 and 21.

“The vandalism has also inconvenienced members of the public in terms of the streetlights being out, and it has also left the council facing a hefty bill.

“We are at a loss to understand the vandals’ motives, but perhaps they thought the cameras on the streetlights were of the type used to identify polluting vehicles in the ultra-low emission zones that exist in London and other cities.

"Of course, Hartlepool doesn’t have any such zones.

"The cameras on the damaged streetlights were simply being used to count passing vehicles.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Although these incidents almost certainly happened at night, the streetlights were on busy roads – one of them close to homes – and people may have seen something.

"The vandalism may also have been recorded on residents’ doorbell cameras.

"I would urge anyone with information to contact the police.”

Hartlepool Borough Council is asking for anyone with any information to contact Cleveland Police immediately on 101.