Don't scrap CCTV say Lincoln residents
Does cutting back on CCTV make clear financial sense in the current climate or put the public at risk?
It's a big talking point on the streets of Lincoln.
A month-long consultation on the future of CCTV in Lincoln drew to a close this week. Residents and businesses were asked their views on a range of options, which included turning-off the cameras altogether.
It currently costs City of Lincoln Council £434,000 a year to run the CCTV system round the clock. The Conservative leader of the council, Darren Grice, has already indicated that the majority of people consulted would prefer the cameras to keep rolling - although that would mean making savings elsewhere.
We've all become use to CCTV pictures filling our news bulletins. Who can forget the haunting images of James Bulger being led to his death? Or the July 7 London bombers preparing to carry our their terrible mission?
But not everyone is convinced the cameras are effective. One Lincoln shopkeeper told me they failed to catch a pair of would-be thieves who weren't picked up when they left his premises, because the picture quality was so bad it it couldn't be used as evidence.
Lincoln is always the scene of a fierce election battle, because this city tends to mirror the national political mood. At the moment it couldn't be closer in the run up to the local elections on 5 May, with the Conservatives and Labour both on 16 seats and the sole Liberal Democrat councillor holding the balance of power.
A final decision will be made on the future of CCTV here in the summer, with other councils also looking at switching off cameras as their financial constraints are brought into sharp focus.
I'm Tim Iredale, the BBC's Political Editor in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and presenter of the regional Politics Show. This is strictly a "no-spin" zone where the political viewpoint is more Humber Bridge than Westminster Bridge. Your comments and observations are more than welcome. 
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