MOTION detectors, panic alarm buttons, almost 200 CCTV cameras -- it may sound like the world of big brother, but a £640,000 refit at a Lancaster car park has made it one of the safest in the country.

The Mitre House multi-storey, once dogged by crime, is only the second nationally to become a 'Parksafe' car park.

Pedestrians can only get into the car park with a ticket or by using a buzzer to summon help from inside.

Once parked drivers must use their ticket to 'secure' their bay. Until it is turned off, any movement in the parking bay will be detected and alert the control centre, who will be able to see what is going on with one of 187 CCTV cameras

Staff who monitor the car park 24 hours a day are able to secure gates and stop anyone from leaving if they believe a crime is taking place.

If that isn't enough, the lights are twice as powerful as the BS standard requires and soothing music is played over the tannoy.

The first Parksafe opened in Derby four years ago in a car park which had suffered 267 reported incidents in the previous year. Since it re-opened, not a singly crime h as been recorded.

The concept was designed over seven years by Ken Wigley, a former agricultural contractor.

Mr Wigley had the idea after having his car broken into at an airport car park and being told that the owners would not take any responsibility.

Unlike other car parks, after a six month 'settling down' period, drivers will not park at Mitre House at their own risk.

The cost of the extra security measures is just 10p per hour, with rates varying from 80p for one hour to £5 for the full day.

Mr Wigley said: "In four years at Derby we have not had one single incident. No beggars, no tramps, no lowlifes, no skateboarding because the gates are closed. We had seen young women being intimidated when they went to their cars at night and the stairwells were the local public urinal."

Lancaster police's chief superintendent Stuart Kirby said at the launch on Monday: "The way criminological thought is going at the moment is more about reducing the opportunities for criminals and this is perhaps one of the best examples I have ever seen. I wish Parksafe all the best in their venture."

Council leader Cllr Tricia Heath welcomed the initiative, which is a partnership between the council, Parksafe and the soon to be opened Warner Bros cinema in the city.

The changes couldn't come too soon for Nick Pilkington, a partner in Fisher Wrathall, based close to the car park on Castle Hill.

He and his colleagues have, with some trepidation, been parking their cars in Mitre House for several years.

Nick has been the victim of a number of vandals and, three and a half years ago, returned to find his car sat on bricks with its wheels stolen.

"One colleague even had his car filled with water via air vents from a fire hose which had the potential to cause many thousands of pounds worth of damage," said Nick.