Work starts on new £40,000 Bridgnorth CCTV system

Engineers will upgrade sections of Bridgnorth's control room as well as installing a new camera in Low Town to catch criminals leaving for Wolverhampton and Telford.

The mayor Councillor David Cooper said the work will be finished in a couple of weeks.

The CCTV committee called for a £5,100 upgrade of the system's back-up recording equipment, to re-site a camera in Innage Lane to a better position for £2,730 and supply and install a server-based recorder.

A new camera will be installed near the Bandon Island roundabout and Bridgnorth Town Council also approved a £29,000 revamp of the system to install dome cameras and a new camera on the junction of Squirrel Bank and Whitburn Street.

Councillor Cooper said: "We are having an upgrade of the town's CCTV system, which includes changes to the equipment in the control centre.

"This includes the replacement of virtually all the existing cameras with high-definition ones and the installation of a new camera near the Bandon Island roundabout. Improvements are also being made to others.

"It's an ongoing project, which we expect to be finished in the next couple of weeks."

A £27,500 sum from the Police and Crime Commissioners grant scheme and a contribution from Shropshire Council will cover the majority of the costs, with the remainder coming out the town council's earmarked reserves.

Volunteers who run a town's CCTV system will also have to undergo specialist police training in future.