HIGH-tech micro cameras fitted in front doors are being used to protect victims of domestic violence and bogus callers in a pioneering project in East Lancashire.

Doorstep footage will be beamed directly on to the resident's TV set with programmes being inter-rupted for 15 seconds.

This will give them the option of whether to answer the door or not.

Hyndburn police are the first division in Lancashire to use the new technology, which could be rolled out across the county if it proves successful.

The move has been applauded by a victim of domestic violence, who said the system could help save many women, and their children.

Police are also hoping to use the system to catch bogus callers who prey on the elderly.

The motion sensitive Visibell devices - around the size of a match box - pick up digital high-quality footage of people who call at the front door and then sends the images on to the resident's television via a scart lead.

The footage is date and time stamped and then imprinted on to a hard drive inside the house.

Just one recording is necessary to carry out a successful prosecution against someone who has broken a court injunction order.

Last year there were 1,528 victims of domestic abuse in Hyndburn.

PC Andy Liptrott, crime prevention officer for Accrington, said: "This is about empowering people.

"It is your house and you don't have to let anybody in if you do not want to.

"Until now women have had to rely on keeping a notebook with the dates of the unwelcome visits or fuzzy CCTV systems.

"It was their partner's word against theirs. The cameras provide high quality images, even in low lighting.

"Depending on how successful the images are we will then look at using them in other divisions."

Anne - not her real name - 41, from Accrington suffered abuse at the hands of her partner for 10 years.

She eventually left him 12 months ago after gaining help from the Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Domestic Violence group.

Anne said: "My partner was allowed contact with our children but since becoming financially independent from him he has started to cause trouble again. He is back at the door screaming and shouting "A system like this would be invaluable. I wish there had been the opportunity to get one before now."

Six doorbells systems, totalling over £2,000, have been purchased by Hyndburn's Community Safety Partnership (CSP), a collaboration between the police, council, fire service, probation office and other groups.

They can be moved to different people who are experiencing problems.

Mark Bates, partnership development officer for the CSP, said: "People have a right to feel safe in their own home.

"There have been problems with those who have breached restraining orders against them returning to a property to abuse their partner.

"But by the time the police have been called that person has gone.

"When questioned they deny they were even there. They cannot deny it if they have been captured on film."

PC Liptrott said: "Statistics show that the typical victim of bogus callers is an 83-year-old female and she will probably die within 12 months of the crime, after fretting and worrying about what has happened.

"The Visibell system is easy to use. Just plug in and play. Residents can decide who they let in across their threshold."

Joan Pilkington, chair of Hyndburn's Over 50s forum, said: "This sounds like a fantastic gadget.

"Safety of the elderly, and protecting them from crime, is paramount as there are a lot of unscrupulous people out there.

"Anything that can done to help the elderly gets my support."

The move to buy the systems has come as tackling domestic violence is one of the CSP's key aims.

Insp Terry Woods, Accrington Police, said: "Crime and community safety is one part of the jigsaw that is making Hyndburn a better place to live.

"We have introduced a number of initiatives, and gadgets, that have been helping us reduce our crime figures."