Drug addicts and vandals could be flushed out of a Borehamwood park under a new council scheme.

Clarendon Park has been a meeting place for troublemakers for years, and vandals routinely spray graffiti on its derelict buildings.

But now Hertsmere Borough Council is considering a planning application to build a CCTV control room in the park, which would provide 24-hour surveillance.

While the proposed control room would take up some of the green space in the park, councillors are expected to support the application, as a way of keeping drunks and drug addicts out of the park.

Most of the existing buildings on the site, which were once used by the Women's Royal Voluntary Service, would be demolished, and a slightly larger complex would be built in their place.

Planning officer Ian Runeckles said the new single-storey building would only be slightly larger than the existing buildings, and would probably not affect views.

But he said the council would have to consider whether enough car parking spaces were provided in the plans, and whether surrounding roads could cope with the extra traffic generated by the control room.

Council leader Stuart Nagler said: "We have got to do something with the site, I think people are very concerned about what goes on there."

He said it was possible that the council's current CCTV control room, in Elstree Studios, would have to move, and the park's disused buildings could provide a new base for it.

Patrick Bateman, from Grosvenor Road, said he welcomed the idea of bringing security into the park to deter troublemakers, but hoped some community facilities would also be included.

"My first choice would be to go back to the park being Green Belt land, but this is the best plan we have seen so far," he said, adding: "Having security cameras around the building would make the area safer."

A council spokesman said people living near Clarendon Park were now being asked what they thought of the idea, and that councillors would debate the issue at a forthcoming planning meeting.