A 'BIG Brother' TV camera is to watch over Leigh's war memorial in a clampdown on vandalism.

The latest in closed circuit televsion is now in operation at the Church Street Memorial Gardens.

And yobs are being told to keep clear -- or risk being caught on film within seconds.

The move is set to stamp out years of vandalism which has blighted the gardens.

They have become a drug-taker's haven and has the war memorial has been daubed with paint on several occasions.

The new camera can pan, tilt and zoom, leaving offenders with no place to hide.

It has been placed on Bond Street and if it proves to be a success, identical systems will be set up in hot spots throughout the town.

Each camera costs £3,875 and the pictures are fed to a central control room set up by the council.

But the cost is a fraction of the £140,000 spent on renovating the garden over the past 18 months.

Cllr Brian Jarvis, (pictured above right) chairman of the Leigh town centre risk management group, said: "This camera should make the area far more secure and less prone to vandalism. It's real step in the right direction for the town."

The Home Office is considering giving the go ahead for more CCTV cameras in Leigh following a letter from Cllr Jarvis. A similar scheme in neighbouring Bolton has slashed crime in the areas under surveillance.

It has proved so effective, the number of homes in the town being monitored by CCTV is set to double.

Leigh's hi-tech camera was switched on on Wednesday in a ceremony attended by Cllr Jarvis, together with Leigh town centre co-ordinator Laurie Barton, risk management team members Peter Bowler and Trevor Orrison, and Cllr Ann Turnock. in Leigh following a letter from Cllr Jarvis. A similar scheme in neighbouring Bolton has slashed crime in the areas under surveillance.

It has proved so effective, the number of homes in the town being monitored by CCTV is set to double.

Leigh's hi-tech camera was switched on on Wednesday in a ceremony attended by Cllr Jarvis together with Cllr Ann Turnock, risk management team member Trevor Harrison, Leigh town centre co-ordinator Laurie Barton and risk management team member Peter Bowdler.