We can confirm that the connection between the camera in Lowbourne and the server was lost between 12:48 and 14:00 on Saturday, 27th September 2025. This outage coincided with the serious incident in the area. Any loss of CCTV coverage at a critical time is unacceptable and falls below the standard residents are entitled to expect.
Since 2013, Melksham Town Council has invested in a 73-camera wireless CCTV network across the town centre to help keep our community safe. And while this facility has proved useful, as a wireless system, it is prone to connection dropouts, leading to data loss. Recognising these limitations, the council had already engaged an independent third-party specialist on 16th September 2025, before the incident, to begin addressing these issues. And since the incident, we have sought additional advice from other independent companies.
To ensure the system meets residents’ expectations in the future, the third-party companies are thoroughly reviewing its capabilities and providing recommendations for the council to consider. These proposals should ensure the revised system is best practice, fit for purpose, up to date, and robust, with fall-back measures in place when the wireless signal is inadequate (eg. the ability to record even during a dropout).
In response to repeated calls for an independent inquiry, a full independent review is now underway, examining technical performance, governance, oversight and compliance, not solely the hardware itself. This work will be carried out in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice.
At Melksham Town Council, we value transparency, and, subject to police advice, we are committed to publishing the findings of the independent review and the actions taken as a result.
We recognise the pain and frustration residents are experiencing during this difficult time. Please be assured that we take any failure of this nature extremely seriously, and we will publish the full findings of our investigation in due course.