CRIME in Darlington's car parks has been dramatically reduced by the presence of 24-hour closed-circuit television surveillance.
In the first three quarters of this year only six vehicle crimes took place in car parks covered by Darlington Borough Council's CCTV system.
That means the council is on track to reduce crime figures in its car parks compared with last year.
About £1.5m has been invested in the surveillance scheme, which has more than 100 cameras providing constant coverage to the council's control room.
Councillor Bill Dixon, cabinet member for community and public protection, said Darlington was one of the safest places to park.
"In the ten years since we first introduced CCTV the car park crime figures have continued to tumble," he said.
"With more than two million people parking in council-run car parks each year and only six incidents reported to date it is safe to say we have all but wiped out car park crime."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article