Spycams plan to end trouble

From the archive, first published Friday 17th Jun 2005.

YOBS in Hagley can expect to be caught on camera after the introduction of two new CCTV schemes.

The Worcester Road playing fields, which have been a focal point for crime and anti-social behaviour, are now the site for two new cameras, costing a total of £35,000.

The project has been funded by Hagley Parish Council, who contributed £10,000, and Bromsgrove Community Safety Partnership who secured £25,000 of government cash.

The Parish Council has been working with West Mercia Police to push for the cameras to provide valuable evidence against hooligans in the area.

Alan Brown, Chairman of the Parish Council, said: "Investing in CCTV is money well spent."

Councillor Peter Whittaker, Bromsgrove District Council cabinet member for community safety, added: "I am confident the new cameras will drive down instances of crime and disorder in this area, as has already been proved around Hagley Station and other sites in the Bromsgrove district where CCTV has been installed."

A pioneering mobile CCTV scheme is also being rolled out in the village to target crime hotspots.

The cameras will be made available to Neighbourhood Watch members who will then be able to record covertly in areas where there are specific problems.

The new equipment has been provided by the safety partnership, which includes the district council and police and any house with a neighbourhood watch sticker could be the site for a camera,

In the Stoke Heath area of Bromsgrove the use of the mobile cameras over the past five years has been linked with a 90 per cent fall in incidents of burglary, anti-social behaviour and criminal damage.

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