NEW CCTV cameras are to be installed in Blackburn town centre in a bid to make people feel safer.
As well as the 11 new cameras, the existing 30-plus cameras will be upgraded to give digital quality pictures, which will be beamed to a state-of-the-art new monitoring suite at Blackburn Police's Greenbank base.
And staff monitoring the cameras will be trained to spot incidents as they happen, rather than using them to search for footage after an incident has taken place.
The new cameras are being paid for by the borough's community safety partnership, which has obtained funding from various grants.
The 11 new cameras will be stationed mainly around the town centre car parks, enabling them to receive 'secure' status for the first time.
That, council bosses hope, will make people feel safer about coming into the town centre.
Over the last week, the Lancashire Evening Telegraph has reported on concerns among the community that Blackburn town centre was becoming a no-go zone for people who didn't want to spend the night binge drinking.
Sharon Kemp, community safety partnerships manager at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "The new cameras will go on the car parks, to help make them safer.
"But the whole network will benefit because the existing cameras on the new system will produce much clearer, digital images.
"The staff, who will be from private contractors, will also be trained to spot incidents happening so the police can respond immediately.
"It is definitely a big step forward in helping make people feel safer."
Superintendent Warren Turner, operations manager for Lancashire's Eastern Division covering Blackburn and Hyndburn, welcomed the initiative.
He said: "Significant investment has gone into improving the CCTV coverage in the town centre and this will assist in prevention and detection of crime, as well as making people visiting the town feel safer and more reassured."
CCTV cameras first appeared in Blackburn's town centre in 1995, and the network has gradually expanded and improved since then, funded mainly by the Government.
The new system should be up and running within months.
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