CALLINGTON Town Council is getting tough on anti-social behaviour, dog fouling and litter dropping with the installation of a CCTV camera and council staff trained to be enforcement officers.

The camera is now up and running, following residents' long running complaints about noise and intimidation in the car park from boy racers.

Despite increased police presence and talks between the young people and councillors, there is still a minority causing trouble, said the council.

Six members of staff have also been been trained to issue fines for dog fouling and litter dropping to keep Callington tidy and protect its public parks and amenities for everyone's enjoyment.

Town councillor Jeremy Gist said both initiatives were part of the town's proactive policy to deal with issues rather than cut services like many other places in Cornwall.

'In both these cases it is a very small minority of people spoiling it for the rest,' he said. 'We want Callington to be a nice place to live and therefore our message is that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated.'

The camera is a partnership between the council, which has provided the electricity, supplied the pole and installation costs, Cornwall Council, which has provided the camera and equipment, and the police who will monitor the CCTV.

Cllr Gist said he would rather people socialised in the park rather than staring at computer screens in their bedrooms but it was not okay to cause disruption to the nearby residents by playing loud music, driving a car erratically and swearing.

'By installing the camera we are taking a positive step to help reduce the problems that residents are experiencing and together with police enforcement it will hopefully get the message across that if you are sensible you are welcome but if you are going to be foolish you are not.'