SPY CAMERAS in Blackburn town centre are already creating a sense of security for shoppers and visitors, say security bosses.

Planners hope a closed-circuit television system scanning the streets 24 hours a day will make the centre safer and more secure.

Eight cameras are linked to control rooms in Blackburn Shopping Centre and the police station, where staff monitor them, along with the 40 cameras in the centre itself.

Shopping Centre owners Standard Life paid for their own installations at a cost of around £500,000 and Safer Cities, Blackburn Council and City Challenge found the £125,000 to provide eight cameras in surrounding streets.

"The cameras are the best on the market and can record in extremely low light intensities," said the council's town centre manager Paul Isherwood.

"It is working very well, there are already a number of tapes with the police pending possible prosecutions.

"The police have been very co-operative and if Blackburn follows trends in other East Lancashire towns with CCTV there will be a reduction in crime. The message is don't come to Blackburn to steal, it is no longer an option." Blackburn Council leader Malcolm Doherty, hoped people would feel safer once they realised the cameras were there to protect them 24 hours a day. "I hope this will encourage people to use the town centre in the evenings. It is a matter of people being aware and feeling safer because the cameras are there."

Safer Cities co-ordinator Geoff Whitehead, said it was too early to produce actual statistics showing any definite trends, but the initial reaction from shoppers and businesspeople had been very positive.

"Around a fifth of the crime in Blackburn is committed in the town centre. That is not exceptional for any town.

"The cameras are part of an overall strategy to keep one step ahead of people who cause trouble and create problems. CCTV is common in many towns, and people almost become to expect it."

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