DAVID ORCHARD

David Orchard

David Orchard helped police catch criminals for almost 20 years with CCTV cameras he installed at an unmanned rural train station he had bought in 1991 at Adisham, Kent to convert to a three-bedroom property.

He has spent nearly £25,000 on CCTV equipment - the newest of which can instantly email police images of suspicious activity.

His footage has captured vandals, trespassers and even car thieves - as well as children risking their lives by running or cycling down the 750-volt live tracks where trains pass at 60mph.

But now the British Transport Police have taken David Orchard to court and he has been banned from contacting them!

For years David Orchard volunteered his time to help South Eastern trains maintain the tiny station, saying: "Instead of letting it turn into a vacant, decaying mess I made it into a pleasant place to be."

"But I couldn't stand by watching as children risked their lives, or people committed crimes, so I set up the cameras and tried to help the police."

But when Govia took over the company in the spring of 2006, he was told his services were no longer needed so last year David Orchard decided to pull the plug on his intricate system of 15 cameras, but when he saw crimes taking place such as a costly shelter fire, he called British Transport Police (BTP) to report them.

And continued calling when he spotted worrying behaviour such as vandalism and youths on the tracks - until police got fed up and took him to court!

"When they told me my services weren't needed, it was like a slap in the face. But even though I had taken my cameras down, I still felt like I had a responsibility to report worrying incidents to the police.

"Obviously they now see me as the nuisance, so apparently I am supposed to ignore anything bad that appears to be happening even though it's right on my doorstep."

And today that is exactly how the police DO see decent people like David Orchard - as a nuisance who they would rather take to court than do the job they are paid to do by the taxpayer!

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