A £15,000 CCTV system designed to stop ‘boy racers’ from causing trouble at Brunel Quay STILL does not work properly, and local councillors are not happy.

At a meeting on Monday, several councillors were incandescent with rage at how the situation had been handled.

In September, councillors were told by police that cameras – purchased from security firm OCON – were not producing clear enough images to identify problem drivers at night.

One of the cameras was also obscured by a tree, meaning a space big enough for 15 cars remained hidden.

Cllr Paul Smith said: “If this was a business, we would have stopped this months ago.

“It’s unprofessional and gives us a bad reputation in public. I’m absolutely furious.”

“It’s been 18 months, we’ve spent a lot of money, and we’re still no closer to sorting it,” said Cllr Mike Harry.

Town clerk Jane Clark said a new trial camera had recently been delivered, which should rectify the situation.

Special powers were previously granted to Mayor Cllr Simon Hancock to “sort this wretched business out”, but members said trialling, and potentially buying, more equipment was not the way to go.

Instead, Cllr Smith said OCON should be held to account.

Ms Clark said there was no formal contract with OCON for the equipment, but Cllr Smith said this was irrelevant.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s in writing or not, they came here and told us what we were getting, that’s a verbal contract.”

He added: “I get asked by residents what is happening and I have to tell them it’s not further on."

Ms Clark then revealed that police had received no recent reports of problems at the Quay, to which Cllr Smith replied: “We look like a bunch of monkeys.”

Councillors voted to rescind plenary powers to the mayor, and asked the clerk to seek professional legal advice on the matter.

The area has been a hot-spot for trouble since 2011, and in 2014 the council spent £5,000 on a four-camera system, but this did not solve the problem.

In April 2015, members suggested installing a new system, after complaining that special measures given to police to ‘move on’ troublemakers were also not working.