TRADERS in Southampton have spoken of their fury after discovering a council-owned CCTV installation they thought would deter vandals actually had no camera in it.

Burglars smashed their way into Something Special flower shop in Woolston, causing £1,600 -worth of damage when they stole a dragon statue worth £59.95.

As if to rub salt into the wound, shop owner Pat Rowe was then told by police that the street CCTV equipment which overlooks her shop and the whole of Victoria Road shopping centre actually had no camera in it.

Now more Woolston traders who have been the victim of vandals have come forward to express their frustration.

Police have little evidence with which to investigate the incidents because nothing was captured on CCTV.

Ms Rowe, 44, whose shop was broken into in the early hours of Monday, said: "We are totally cheesed off. I've been here for 21 years and it's never been as bad as it is now. What are we paying our rates for when the camera does not work?

"We had a nice little village spirit going on here but now customers have been phoning me and I'm having to take orders over the phone because they are too scared to come down. I was told that the camera is shared between Northam, Bitterne and Woolston."

On Saturday night the Oven Door bakery only a few doors down was burgled and had its safe, containing an undisclosed sum, taken. Other shops have also been attacked with stones fired from a catapult.

One shop owner, who did not want to be named but claimed he has seen his trade fall by 20 per cent in the past year, said: "The camera should be on. Everyone is moaning about it."

Woolston city councillor Richard Williams said reports from Bitterne police show the number of vandalism incidences in Woolston has decreased since the camera was installed a year ago.

A spokesman for Southampton City Council, which owns and operates the CCTV cameras, confirmed that the camera was part of a mobile scheme to cover a number of district centres.

"While the units were fully wired a full camera system could not be introduced to all areas as the existing control room cannot carry all the incoming signals.

"A new control centre is now being built and it is hoped that within 12 months the mobile camera sites will be linked to the system permanently to provide surveillance at all times."