Work is complete on significant improvements to CCTV facilities at Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Capacity is now available for 132 CCTV cameras following an extension to the monitor wall giving the current CCTV Control Room an extra 10-15 years working life. At the same time, alterations were made to the Sulis Manor transmission dish which will improve the quality and reliability of pictures received from Keynsham, Midsomer Norton, and Radstock.

Conservative CCTV campaigners Councillor Shirley Steel (Conservative, Midsomer Norton North) and Thicket Mead resident Barry Macrae commented:

There were rumours the quality of the images provided by the CCTV cameras had not been up to scratch. We raised this with the Executive Councillor responsible for CCTV, so we are delighted that efforts have been made to improve the quality and reliability of the pictures generated by the cameras. This will hopefully give extra peace of mind to local residents and remove any doubt in troublemaker’s minds that they can get away with intimidating our community or flout the law without being identified.”

Both campaigners were recently successful in winning an extra CCTV camera for the Stones Cross area of the town to add to the 13 already present in Midsomer Norton and Radstock.

Shirley and Barry are working alongside Executive Member for Community Safety Councillor Vic Pritchard (Conservative, Chew Valley South) to address CCTV concerns in Midsomer Norton. He added:

“We work very closely with the Police to utilise the benefits of CCTV technology. Reducing the fear of crime is a Council priority and CCTV plays a key part in not only this, but identifying offenders. Our intention is to make sure there is no place to hide for troublemakers”