A man has been captured on CCTV brazenly shooting at four cameras installed to deter fly-tipping in a country lane in St Albans.
The shooting, which appears to have occurred in broad daylight, has been labelled as “shocking” by local councillors, while a nearby businessman said he was fed up with people dumping their waste in the area.
More than £900 of damage was caused to CCTV cameras installed by St Albans district council in Bedmond Lane, near Potters Crouch.
And Herts Police have just launched an appeal for information to help locate the man photographed shooting at the CCTV cameras, five weeks ago.
PC Jane Flemmons, investigating, said that four cameras were shot at with an air rifle between 5pm on Friday April 18 and 7.40am on Monday April 21.
In one of two photos released by the police to help locate the man pictured in the CCTV stills a white man, wearing a checked shirt, is smiling at the camera.
In the second, he is shown standing near a pile of fly-tipped waste and a vehicle parked on the lane, taking aim at a CCTV camera.
Cllr Edgar Hill, recently elected to represent Verulam Ward in last week’s council elections, said he was “very surprised” at the shooting, adding that such an incident was “rarely heard of in St Albans”.
He said: “It’s quite shocking. I wish the police every success in catching the person. He needs to be caught so he doesn’t think he can go around shooting at things.”
Cllr Beric Read, the council’s portfolio holder for community engagement, echoed Cllr Hill’s comments and added, “I don’t recall this happening before. It’s very unusual, and I’m surprised it happened in St Albans.
“An air rifle can be potentially dangerous.”
A local businessman said that he recalled hearing shots from the area at around that time, but as it was well before the hunting season, had dismissed the noise.
He said that Bedmond Lane was constantly targeted by fly-tippers.
The man went on: “Over the past six-to-nine months it has become worse, and unfortunately there are people who have no sense of community, and just care about themselves. You almost feel resigned to it happening.”
• Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Flemmons via the police non emergency number 101 or Crimestoppers, the independent charity, anonymously on 0800 555111.
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