A TOWN centre will turn into the "Wild West" if councillors are forced to pull the plug on CCTV cameras.

Traders have been warned that the system which covers Market Street, Westhoughton, will be turned off unless they come up with £100 each by the September 9 deadline.

Westhoughton Town Council leader David Wilkinson said: "If the traders don't give a monkeys about the town centre, why should people go into their shops.

"Without the cameras, holy hell will break out in this town centre."

Each trader has been asked to pay £100 a year for the cameras, but only three are currently paying.

Another five have said that they will only pay if the majority of business owners on Market Street and Pavilion Square come forward with the money.

Traders are still locked in a stalemate with the councillors despite a round of meetings this year.

Cllr Wilkinson said at Monday night's Town Council meeting: "This is the last chance and if anyone thinks we are calling their bluff, they are wrong.

"Unless there is £100 from a majority of businesses September 9 we will give BT and the operators three months notice and the cameras will be gone."

Business owners have complained that no evidence has so far been put forward to show that the cameras are effective in catching troublemakers, and say the money should be found from business rates.

Cllr Wilkinson pointed to a court case due to start next month in which police are due to use CCTV footage shot from the town's camera network.

The seven cameras, which are operated at a cost of £12,000 a year, were switched on nearly three years late in 2001.