POLICE and council bosses are celebrating after securing government cash to install CCTV cameras in Radcliffe.

A total of £334,615 from the Home Office and just over £15,000 from Bury Council will now be spent on eight cameras covering the town centre.

And, as exclusively revealed in last week's Bury Times, Prestwich has even more to celebrate after its bid for Big Brother cameras was also approved by the government.

Twenty-one cameras will be sited at hot-spots in Prestwich as well as in the St Mary's and Sedgley areas at a cost of £850,000, £581,337 provided from government coffers and the remainder from the local authority.

The CCTV bids were drawn up and submitted by Bury Community Safety Partnership, made up of police, council representatives, traders, residents and other interested parties.

Councillor Barry Briggs, chairman of Radcliffe Area Board, said: "It has taken some time but we promised CCTV cameras for the streets of Radcliffe and now they are to be delivered.

"There is no doubt that they have an important role to play, not just identifying those who commit crimes, but more importantly in helping to deter crime and vandalism."

And Bury South MP, Ivan Lewis, praised the BCSP.

He said: "This success is down to the hard work by the council, police and other members of Bury's community safety partnership."