PLANS to remove a boundary wall and trees have been given the green light -- despite being branded as "municipal vandalism" by a Ribble Valley councillor.

Ribble Valley Borough Council's planning and development committee agreed to replace the wall at Lowergate car park, Clitheroe, with lower, bow-top railings to give the town's new CCTV surveillance system a clearer view of the area.

Insp Bob Ford from Clitheroe police told the committee the CCTV system would be "one of the best in the country", and added: "We have a responsibility to respond robustly to incidents recorded by CCTV and the removal of this wall is the council's contribution to this.

"The Lowergate wall is basically used as a public toilet and to hide people who want to be hidden in the car park to do things which, by any standards, are a nuisance, and when it comes to breaking into cars, it is criminal."

Insp Ford said any system could be compromised by natural features and the retention of the wall would keep a very vulnerable place as one of the town's crime 'hot spots'.

Planning officers have pledged a new area of five trees will be planted behind the site to replace the five ash and acer trees being removed.

Richard Kirby from the council's planning department said: "The scheme will help eliminate existing blind spots which would exist behind the wall if it remained. It will also improve inter-visibility for motorists both using the car park and travelling along Lowergate, as well as improving safety for pedestrians walking across the parking areas.

"As the existing walls are of relatively modern origin their removal in terms of 'heritage' loss is not considered."

But last month Liberal Democrat leader and Clitheroe councillor Frank Dyson blasted the council for its plans to cut down trees on Lowergate to make way for the cameras just weeks after a storm of protest erupted over chopping down more than 20 trees around Clitheroe Castle.

He said: "I think this is just municipal vandalism. One day it is selective planting, the next it is removal of vegetation.

"These trees help make Clitheroe an attractive place because they break up the greyness of the general build. And I am amazed officers try to justify knocking down a wall on the grounds it was not on the 1886 map. Beware people of Clitheroe, anything built after 1886 is liable to be knocked down."

At the meeting, Coun Dyson said he believed the demolition of the wall was not justified and could instead be brought down to half a metre without putting the CCTV system at risk.

But urging the committee to approve the demolition, the council's chief executive Dave Morris said the plans would improve the environment in the Lowergate car park. He added there were "massive problems" in the car park and the council wanted to make it safer for residents and visitors alike.

The committee also passed two other applications to erect 10 columns in Clitheroe town centre and around the castle grounds, and for several more in King Street, Whalley, for CCTV cameras.