TRADERS in a New Forest village hit hard by loss of business during the foot-and-mouth crisis are being asked to put their hands in their depleted pockets to fund crime prevention.

Lyndhurst has been offered the chance to tag on to the £1m-plus government-funded CCTV scheme planned to cover Lymington, Totton and Ringwood.

The control centre for the CCTV network would be sited at Appletree Court Lyndhurst, and a couple of extra cameras and a few yards of cable could mean 24-hour camera protection for the village - which has seen a spate of vandalism and arson in recent months.

But the security comes at a price. Lyndhurst is not included in the proposed Home Office grant. The cost of their add-on scheme - which could top £60,000 for start-up alone - would have to be gathered from village businesses.

Many of them are only slowly recovering from massive downturns in trade due to the recent disease crisis preceded by five months of roadworks which clogged the High Street.

New Forest district CCTV supremo Graham Tombs told local parish councillors that they only had six to eight weeks to accept or reject the scheme.

"We confidently expect final confirmation any day now from the Home Office, saying we are getting the grant for the three-town scheme," he said.

"Then we must hit the ground running. We must spend the money by March."

He said several options were possible for Lyndhurst, involving two or three cameras - costing £8,500 each - sited in the main car park and High Street, and a choice of private cables or hired BT fibre-optic links to the nearby control bunker.

"Whichever you choose there will be some on-going revenue costs too. These cameras are on the move all the time, and need new bearings, bulbs and tapes. A BT line would cost £2,000 in rent," said Mr Tombs.

He urged councillors to arrange an urgent meeting with local businesses.

Parish chairman Mark Abbott said: "Our precept is only £14,000 a year. We would need a special meeting to authorise spending on this scale.."

Local county councillor Mel Kendal warned that failure to join the CCTV scheme could mean Lyndhurst became the soft option for criminals.

"If you don't do something here, and you get left out while other centres set up CCTV, this village could become the target for crime" he said.

Clive Archer of Paws in the Forest and chairman of Lyndhurst's Chamber of Commerce, said they planned to meet next week to discuss the CCTV scheme.

"It's a great idea and I would be all for it if it hadn't been such a bad year. But we must see what the feeling is among members," he said.