A MOTORIST S hopes of finding the culprit who left an £800 dent in her car were dashed when she discovered CCTV cameras were elsewhere at the time. Samantha Smyth said she returned to the Horse Fair car park in Wisbech to find her car had been damaged and

A MOTORIST'S hopes of finding the culprit who left an £800 dent in her car were dashed when she discovered CCTV cameras were elsewhere at the time.

Samantha Smyth said she returned to the Horse Fair car park in Wisbech to find her car had been damaged and assumed the culprit would have been caught on CCTV.

But she says that when she asked managers if they could identify who had caused the front nearside dent they were unable to help.

She said: "I thought the whole car park was covered by CCTV but it seems there is a camera but it only covers a certain area. It can be moved manually if they see something going on.

"Having a camera like this is a complete waste of time, it is just stupid. It is not only people hitting other cars which need to be caught on CCTV but stealing from cars and what if someone got attacked?"

Miss Smyth, of Wisbech, has owned her F-registered Toyota Celica since March and left it in the car park last Thursday while she went shopping.

She said: "It is my pride and joy. I am just hoping someone will have a guilty conscience and own up to doing it or perhaps someone will have seen what happened. It is going to cost between £500 and £800 to repair because it is an old and quite rare car."

A Horse Fair spokesman confirmed the CCTV can cover 360 degrees but only if operated manually. He said the camera concentrated on the pedestrian exit area but there was also a warden on duty.

The spokesman added: "Unfortunately in this instance it appears the warden did not see what happened."

* Anyone with information can contact Miss Smyth on 01945 580867.