A £40,000 upgrade to a dated security camera system has been welcomed by residents who say their lives are being blighted by vandalism and crime.

A project to improve the out-dated camera system in Skeleton, east Cleveland, has now been approved after various grants were secured.

Rosemary Brady, who runs a hairdressing salon in Skelton, said: "I hope the upgrade goes ahead as soon as possible." She told Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's area environment committee: "I've encountered more than £800-worth of damage to my business over the last three months on the High Street."

Ward councillor Dave McLuckie said the cameras currently in operation were of the lowest quality in the borough.

He said: "Skelton has suffered a serious blight of extreme vandalism in recent months and the system in place is not one that can be monitored to a high standard.

"But with the excellent news of more funding, we will soon have in place a high-quality system from which images can be used as evidence in court.

"It will allow controllers to follow perpetrators of crime and hopefully bring them to justice."

He said windows have been smashed in the village, cash machines damaged and vehicles attacked.

During the meeting, the cost of the security upgrade was put at £40,000.

The Community Safety Partnership is to contribute £15,000 and a further £15,000 grant was announced by the area environment committee during the meeting.

The borough council will provide the remaining £10,000.

Councillor Brian Briggs said businesses in the area were looking to join forces and contribute annually to the running costs of the new system. He said: "The six cameras will be modernised and to help with running costs, the businesses in Skelton are keen to donate about £100 a year.

"They know the new security camera system can safeguard their companies and it will be a vital asset for everyone."

Work on upgrading the CCTV camera system in Skelton will start on Monday.

Telecommunications company BT said equipment had been ordered and progress on installing fibre optic technology can start next week.

The work is expected to take about 60 days.

Coun Briggs said: "This is great news for the project and the new system will be operating sooner than we originally thought."