THE faces of wanted criminals could be displayed on TV screens throughout Burnley town centre as part of a high-tech scheme aimed at cutting crime and keeping people in the know.

Police and council bosses said the project would give people a prime-time chance to help solve crimes and stay up to speed with community information.

News and weather updates would also be published.

But civil liberties groups urged caution, claiming that displaying mugshots of criminals on the screens could lead to vigilante action.

The Big Brother-style scheme would see up to 10 screens costing £6,000 each set up in various locations which could include the McDonald's restaurant, the bus station, the hospital, the market square and supermarkets like Asda and Tescos.

Melva Burton, Burnley council's public protection and community safety officer, said the TVs could be used to broadcast a range of programmes from messages about firework safety in the run-up to bonfire night to appeals for missing persons or help in solving local crimes.

She said: "Using broadband technology the programmes will include community safety messages from the council and partner agencies along with daily updates of emergency information and daily news, weather and sport.

"As well as including information from partners aimed at reducing crime and the fear of crime, the programmes will be used to promote wider civic pride.

"It's primary function will not be to display mugshots of wanted criminals, but there is a facility for that." She also stressed that the screens would be placed sufficiently high up to deter vandalism.

The scheme has been funded by a grant of £47,000 from the Government Office for the North West as well as £19,000 of the council's own cash and will be run by the town's Community Safety Partnership and Lancashire company Crimewise Ltd.

The Community Safety Partnership, which consists of the council, the police, fire service, and community groups, will have editorial control over all the material to be broadcast and it will be produced and managed by Crimewise, which is based in Freckleton, near Preston.

The partnership approached Crimewise to set up the scheme after hearing of similar projects set up in Easington, County Durham, last year. This is the first of its kind in Lancashire.

Councillors voted to give the go-ahead to the scheme at a meeting of the executive on Tuesday.The project could be up and running as early as March and will initially run for a year, though there is an option to extend it for a further two years at a cost of £49,000 a year.

Burnley town centre manager Lisa Durkin said the screens will be used to relay messages to the public that they might otherwise have missed.

But Barry Hugill, spokesman for civil rights group Liberty, said there was a danger that displaying mugshots of people could lead to vigilante action.