A CCTV camera inside John Woodcock’s new office in the town centre has recorded an incident which shows a young man in a puffer jacket striking his window as two male companions look on.
The punch, which was made at 4.18am on Saturday morning, shattered the plate glass which is now in the process of being repaired. At least one other town centre shop frontage in the vicinity was damaged at around the same time.
Footage has been passed to police officers.
Mr Woodcock said the damage showed the need for more CCTV in the town centre to protect businesses from late night vandalism – possibly funded by local night clubs.
He said: “The sight of this puffer-jacketed moron wrecking our office window in the early hours of Saturday morning as his mates look on is what too many local stores have to put up with at club kicking out time in Barrow town centre, particularly on Cavendish Street.
“We are fortunate to have CCTV in our office as a result of the heightened threat that elected representatives are unfortunately facing so the culprit should be possible to identify, and I hope anyone who recognises anyone involved will come forward to the police. But this highlights the need for greater public CCTV in the town centre to protect the public and businesses against the loutish behaviour that is too often fuelled by cheap booze from our night spots.
“The night time economy is important but people should be able to have a good time without fearing getting caught up in a brawl and businesses should not feel they need metal shutters to protect their property.
“The police CCTV camera in the area is limited in scope and did not pick up the damage done to our office and Thomas Cook nearby. It is time to consider funding more cameras from security levy on businesses who profit from Barrow’s liberal late-night licensing hours, whose customers sometimes misbehave when they leave the premises.
“I hope this is something the Business Improvement District will look at with the council and after taking the advice of the police.”
