THE council has come under fire for letting its car parks become “soft targets” for thieves.

Motorist Tara Harrison complained to Swindon Council after becoming the victim of a smash-and-grab at the Prospect Place car park, in Old Town.

The 41-year-old, of Thames Lane, Cricklade, has now learned there is no CCTV covering the car park.

A council parking officer replied to Miss Harrison saying cash to secure its car parks are limited, and in spite of their best efforts they still offer good prospects for criminals.

It read: “Unfortunately this is an ongoing problem in the whole of Swindon affecting all car users.

“The police have ongoing projects to catch the offenders with some success in using dummy target cars, but whilst this does make inroads into the catching of the perpertrators (sic) it does not totally remove what is a soft target.”

The council runs 29 car parks in the town, including the multi-storey Wyvern car park.

The council officer added: “We have funding limitations on how far we can go with security measures specifically in the current climate, and the fact that we are a publicly funded authority with all funds into the parking department being self-generated from customer charges.”

During the incident, which took place between 11pm last Thursday and 8am the following morning, the window of Miss Harrison’s blue Hyundai Amica was broken and a pair of sunglasses stolen.

Although the theft was minor, she estimated the damage was around £350 – and she has been left “really shaken” by it.

The Zurich worker said: “I was pretty disgusted. I spend a lot of money in that car park. There’s nowhere else to park.

“I spend up to £5 an evening, up to four times a week. Then this happens, and there’s no CCTV, it’s just disgusting.

“Any other time you could guarantee someone would be there to give you a ticket, but when you need someone there’s no-one there.

“What if something happened to someone else? They were raped or attacked and there’s no CCTV to cover that? Especially when there are so many pubs and clubs nearby.”

Police denied the car parks present a easy target for thieves.

Acting detective inspector Alex Spargo, in charge of stopping vehicle break-ins, said: “I don’t agree car parks in Swindon are a soft touch.

“They’re certainly patrolled well by police and parking enforcement officers. We’ve set up an operation on Friday, and we’ll be actively patrolling in that car park and on the streets in Swindon.

“We’re trying to pass on to people: you can make your car a harder target by making sure there’s nothing on display.”

The number of break-ins between April 2010 to and the end of January 2011 was 1,112.

In the same period in 2009/10 the figure was 1,070, and in 2008/09 it was 1,445.

But a large number of these were as a result of motorists leaving doors unlocked.

Of the 84 in January this year, 34 were the result of unlocked doors.

The council was unavailable for comment.