A SANDWICH shop owner is angry that a CCTV camera was not recording when one of her vans was damaged in York city centre.

Karen Donaldson, manager of Makdonaldson's sandwich shop in Lawrence Street, York, contacted the Evening Press after the Citroen van was damaged while it was parked in St Helen's Square, near the Mansion House. Driver Mark Orr was away from it, delivering sandwiches.

She said: "The front wing is pushed in, the indicator light is smashed out and the wing mirror has gone too.

"We can't use it and it's going to need about £500 worth of repairs."

Although Mr Orr asked passers-by and other people in the area, he had found no clues as to who was responsible for the damage, which happened between 8.30am and 8.40am yesterday.

Mrs Donaldson said: "He went to the police station to report it and he was told they would check the CCTV cameras while he was there.

"He was told there had been cameras put there because there's been trouble in that area.

"He was then told it had been pointing in that direction but the cameras weren't on.

"I'm very annoyed about it."

Sergeant Jim Dawson, of York Police control room, where footage from the cameras is watched on a bank of screens, said that while the cameras are never "turned off", their information is only recorded at certain points. Those cameras do not get 'turned off'. They are running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"They are used as a reactive tool rather than a proactive tool and they are on permanently, but not everything is recorded."

He confirmed there was no camera footage of the incident in question.

He said: "If it was on record and it was related to what happened, it would have been viewed and used as evidence.

"It doesn't mean that the cameras aren't switched on. Every camera in the city is always on. It's a different question whether it is recording or pointing in the right direction.

"If someone tells us of an incident we will pan in on it with the cameras and record it."

He said the cameras also record some things randomly and certain areas, like Micklegate, are problems on certain days of the week, so they will regularly be recorded at those times.

Sgt Dawson said: "St Helen's Square is not a problem area."