DARWEN’S biggest annual event is playing down fears of crime despite fitting security staff with CCTV body cameras.

The two-day Darwen Live event, which starts on Saturday, is in its 16th year and has attracted a promising line-up including Ex-Fine Young Cannibals frontman Roland Gift headlining on the Sunday and nineties pop band Space, best known for Female of the Species and The Ballad of Tom Jones, closing the festival on Monday.

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Despite previous years being largely trouble-free, Darwen Town Council has teamed up with the town’s police and the Darwen Bar U organisation to buy seven Body Cams, helped by a grant from Lancashire Partnership Against Crime.

Coun Peter Hollings , chairman of Darwen Town Council, said the move counters cuts to police budgets and saves prosecution costs if there is an arrest.

He said: “The body cams are worn by security staff to offer protection and evidence in the event that volatile situations occur involving security staff.

“The cameras are already being used widely around town in the run up to Darwen Live and we have had positive feedback from pub and club owners, the police and the security staff.

“Over recent years, I am delighted to say that both in Darwen Live and Darwen as a whole, our nightlife sees very little trouble.

“However with its popularity and success increasing year on year with dwindling police resources, I think we need to use whatever technologies we can to keep it that way.

“The police inform me that an early guilty plea prompted by CCTV evidence can save up to £14,000 in police and court costs.

“The security staff are happy to use this technology to protect against malicious accusations and they offer valuable feedback to both the establishment owners through the Bar U scheme and the police.”

As well as the main outdoor stage, free-to-attend Darwen Live events are staged by a host of other venues such as Darwen Library Theatre and pubs .

PC Mark Edwards, whose patch covers Darwen town centre and Sunnyhurst, says the cameras even stop incidents happening.

He said: “We are always looking for ways to bolster safety. They offer both an audio and visual deterrent and give us vital evidence if something does happen.”