‘Old and dilapidated cars’ that ‘blighted’ Woodley have been removed from Headley Road East after a successful criminal prosecution.

Wokingham Borough Council’s anti-social behaviour team say the cars were removed after a man was taken to court and fined.

A report to Woodley Town Council said: “Following a successful criminal conviction, we secured a court order for the removal of the old and dilapidated cars that had blighted the community.”

The conviction was part of an update on action over anti-social behaviour presented to Woodley town councillors on Tuesday, May 21.

READ MORE: Cash from criminals to pay for new Woodley CCTV system

Other successful actions include two fines of £400 to fly-tippers on Perimeter Road. The anti-social behaviour officers say Perimeter Road had been a ‘major problem’ location for fly tipping in Woodley. But they say that fly tipping there has now ‘reduced to close to zero'.

Officers also tackled fly-tipping behind the shops on Library Parade on Headley Road, having identified the offenders as people living in the flats above.

But they are still investigating a fly-tipping incident on Drovers Way. And they say they are working with an off licence on Kingfisher Drive to address fly-tipping at bottle banks in a car park there. Officers say the off licence ‘has been supporting Wokingham Borough Council where their CCTV covers'.

The update comes after Woodley Town Council received funding to install a new town centre CCTV system.

Thames Valley Police is to contribute £15,000 towards the CCTV system, with £10,000 of that coming from money taken from thieves.

Speaking in February, Police and crime commissioner Matthew Barber said: “£10k from the sale of stolen goods is being provided to Woodley Town Centre Partnership to support their CCTV project.” He said this was on top of £5,000 already promised.

Labour councillors at Wokingham Borough Council proposed contributing another £15,000 in Wokingham Borough Council’s spending plans for the coming year, at a meeting on Thursday, February 22.

Keith Baker – who at the time was Conservative leader of Woodley Town Council – said the CCTV system would be ‘the first system in the whole of the borough'.

Liberal Democrat borough council leader Stephen Conway said the money ‘will make a big difference to the attempt to secure CCTV in Woodley town centre which is clearly something that we would want to support'.

The police commissioner’s office is in the process of selecting a supplier for the CCTV in Woodley. Once that process is completed, the CCTV will be installed.