POLITICIANS are being challenged to chip in £500 from their personal allowances to keep CCTV cameras rolling in the Forest towns.

Coleford Town Council says the district should continue to pay for the police's Big Brother-style surveillance because it benefits everybody.

The town is writing to district councillors saying they cannot afford to pay and urging them to consider donating between £500 and £1,000 each to keep CCTV coverage in the four towns.

Newent has said they will not fund the cameras and Lydney will wait until they get statistics from police on how many convictions the CCTV cameras have brought.

However, because Lydney and Coleford may not pick up the bill for CCTV, Cinderford Town Council could need to go back to the drawing board.

Cinderford's councillors agreed to fund three out of its five CCTV cameras, but based its £8,600 decision on Lydney and Coleford also coughing up.

Without the other two towns contributing, the bill will rocket because of the cost of the link to the police control room in Coleford.

Cinderford's Di Martin criticised the district council for passing on the bill.

"It has a statutory duty to ensure community safety," she said.

Town councillors in Coleford heard that publicans and shopkeepers are anxious the cameras are not switched off.

And referring to the case of murdered landscape architect Joanna Yeates, mayor Sue Merrikin said: "You only have to think about that poor girl in Bristol. If that happened in the Forest and we did not have CCTV, the trail would go cold."

District council finance chief Brian Robinson said: "We have to make tough decisions as we reduce our spending and try to focus on funding essential services which are needed by our community.

"We are inviting those who benefit from more specific services such as CCTV to fund them in the future."