Wellingborough £1 million alley gates installation see crime-fighting locks stolen and vandalised in first few weeks

Residents on a Wellingborough housing estate say newly installed alley gates, put up to prevent the cut-throughs being used for crime and anti-social behaviour, have been stolen, broken and vandalised.

The Queensway estate project has been funded by £689,000 from the government's Safer Streets Fund and £357,100 from Northamptonshire's Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold.

More than £1m has been invested in CCTV cameras and alley gates in areas that have been used to give cover or as escape routes for criminals.

One resident who did not want to be named said: “Sadly, most (gates) have already been broken and/or had the bolts/latches stolen, so they no longer shut properly.”

They added: "Residents now either have gates that they can't open due to poor installation or completely broken gates that are providing no additional safety to those who live here.

“We have been given no indication of when this is going to be sorted out and the local alleyways are a complete mess. We were looking forward to getting the gates, especially as we had recently been burgled.

"We had hoped it would help us to feel safer at home but it doesn't. It's such a shame really, as they were broken within days of being fitted.

“No one seems to be interested in getting them fixed and now the home owners are left with the problems."

By the end of the project, a total of 43 gates will be placed on several alleys that are behind homes, at side entrances and off open spaces – chiefly around the Shelley Road area.

The final phase of the Queensway Safer Streets project will be the installation of 15 new CCTV cameras, funded by the commissioner as part of the project but installed and operated by North Northamptonshire Council.

The Office for Northamptonshire's Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner acknowledged the damage to some of the gates, saying that the installation process is ‘still underway’ and the gates are ‘still the responsibility of the contractors’.

They confirmed that the contractors will deal with the necessary repairs and following completion and the snagging process, the gates will be handed over to North Northamptonshire Council who will assume responsibility.

A spokesman for The Office for Northamptonshire's Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner said : “Some of the gates have been damaged because they have not been closed properly and so we are asking residents to please make sure gates are closed and locked properly, once the installation is complete.”