DARWEN’S MP has called for CCTV to be installed to protect its most famous landmark.

Jake Berry’s call came after he recently launched a campaign to spruce up the ageing Darwen Tower, which overlooks the town.

As reported in the Lancashire Telegraph last month, Mr Berry has urged Darreners to ‘Tidy the Tower’ in the wake of it being plagued by graffitti.

He said the iconic structure, unveiled in 1897 as part of Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee, should be better looked after.

Yesterday, Mr Berry took a trip to the tower and said he was concerned by what he observed.

He said: “It is time that people in Darwen started to show some love for the tower.

“On our trip to the top of the tower, we picked up a carrier bag full of empty beer cans, the leftovers from an impromptu firework display and saw large amounts of new graffitti on the dome.

“Some walkers at the top looked disappointed with the general state of the tower.

“Having it such a mess portrays a negative image for our most iconic landmark here in Darwen.”

Mr Berry said one way to stop the vandalism would be to install cameras, which could also be used to broadcast live images on the internet from the tower.

He said: “These mindless vandals and litter louts are ruining the image of our town and it is time we looked at installing CCTV at the top of the tower to stop the ongoing vandalism.

“The beauty of installing CCTV means we can have a webcam broadcasting views of Darwen, publicising our amazing countryside for tourism and enabling the sick, elderly and vulnerable who can’t manage the climb to enjoy the views by going on the internet.

“Obviously, we would have to look at a way of powering this and maybe we should consider lighting the tower as a permanent feature on our landscape.

“We could also put up some litter bins which are regularly emptied or undertake regular clean-ups.”