CRIME in Darlington's town centre car parks has fallen to a record low, with praise being given to the town's surveillance cameras system (CCTV).

Money, time and effort is being put in to ensure motorists can park safely in the town, with Darlington Borough Council tightening security in its car parks and the police raising awareness of thefts of and from cars.

The council's CCTV system has been hailed a success, with only 20 car crimes being committed in its monitored car parks in the first nine months of the year.

About £1.5m has been invested in the scheme, with 91 cameras now providing 24-hour coverage relayed to the council's central control room.

When the scheme was introduced in 1994, there were 374 reported crimes in car parks that year. Last year there were 31.

Chris McEwan, the council's cabinet member for community protection, said Darlington was one of the safest places in the country to use a car park.

He said: "More than two million people parked in council-run car parks throughout the town in the past year. To have only twenty incidences of car crime is a minuscule proportion.

"However, we will continue to make improvements and extend the service, and as far as possible make car crime in the town a thing of the past."

But thefts from vehicles parked in the streets continues to be a major problem.

Police continue to report thefts from street-parked cars on a daily basis. Thieves frequently target car stereo music systems and mobile telephones.

Sarah Darling, 24, of Darlington, had her new car compact disc player stolen during the day when she parked her vehicle off Duke Street.

She said: "I was distraught. I had a broken window and hundreds of pounds worth of equipment and CDs taken. I thought my car was safe."

Darlington Borough Council has been raising people's awareness of car theft by distributing leaflets and offering advice.

A police spokesman said motorists should not leave anything on show in their car and must always remember to lock it and where possible set an alarm.