A council is set to spend nearly £100,000 on mobile CCTV cameras to deter anti-social behaviour, but won't be drawn on whether it could used be target thieves who have been repeatedly stealing pelican crossing controls.

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has been awarded £1m from the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund to "help build pride in borough".

The money will come in three phases between now and 2025.

In the first tranche of £98,731, the council intends to purchase two mobile CCTV cameras to use at anti-social behaviour hot-spots in the town.

One target area could be several pelican crossings which have repeatedly been put out of order due to thefts of the control panels on numerous occasions over the past year.

Tonbridge is thought to be the only place in the county being hit by the bizarre crime, with one theory that they are being nicked to be sold as fancy doorbells on places like eBay.

So many have been taken, from sites including Shipbourne Road, The Ridgeway and at Hadlow College, that Kent County Council (KCC), whose responsibility the crossings are, ran out of replacements.

The balance of the £1m money, which must be used by March 2023, will be used to support youth sport clubs and organisations in the town, improve town centre signage and to set up a West Kent Business Support Programme.

Cllr Mark Hood (Green), who first raised the issue of the pelican crossings at a meeting of the Joint Transportation Board last month, said: "Of course it's fantastic news.

"I've been campaigning for resources to be allocated to mobile CCTV for at least three years.

"There have been other occasions and sites of fly-tipping and criminality where CCTV would have been useful, but it just wasn't available."

However, Cllr Hood warned that there were still difficulties ahead.

He said: "Usually these cameras need to be attached to some street furniture, like a lamp-post. But each time you apply to KCC for permission to do this, they make a charge of around £1,200 - which makes the whole thing impracticable."

The majority of the fee is to test whether the lamppost has the structural loading to take the extra weight of the camera.

Cllr Hood said: "It would be a nonsense if TMBC were charged to erect a camera, especially as in the Shipbourne Road case, it would be to protect KCC's own property."

Cllr Hood has a tabled a question at the next full KCC meeting on December 15, asking the cabinet member with responsibility for highways, Cllr Robin Brazier (Con), to waive the fee in respect of CCTV cameras.

A TMBC spokesman said: "For operational reasons, we won’t be publicising the locations of the mobile CCTV units.

"They will be deployed to locations where we are aware of repeat reports of anti-social behaviour, environmental crimes such as fly-tipping or other criminal offences being committed.

"Any evidence obtained by the cameras will be shared with the police."

To continue to receive the government's grant, Tonbridge and Malling council will be expected to deliver each year’s plan before receiving funding for the next.

Further projects lined up for years two and three include community grants, environmental initiatives and schemes to help the unemployed into work.

Council leader, Cllr Matt Boughton, said: "Winning approval for our plans is great news and means we can get started on delivering benefits for our borough.

"A key aim of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is to build a sense of pride in our communities and I’m confident that by investing in young people, supporting business and improving our town centres we can make a big impact."