CRIME in a town centre park has been slashed thanks to new closed circuit television cameras installed by Darlington Borough Council.

The six cameras were installed in Stanhope Park in Darlington last July at a cost of £136,000.

They provide 24-hour coverage of the Stanhope Park, College and Duke Street areas of the town with live pictures relayed to the Town Hall CCTV control room where they are monitored.

Figures released this week show that in the three month period from April to June last year there were 46 crimes reported in the area, but in the six months from July only 50 crimes were reported.

Stephen Harker, the council's Cabinet member for community protection, said: "These figures confirm the impact we believe CCTV would have on crime in this area. We know that this part of the town was having a particular problem with street crime so it is pleasing to see the cameras already making a substantial improvement."

The cameras had already been credited with cutting drug use in the park after residents group Friends of Stanhope Park reported gangs of youths left the park once the cameras were installed.

Soon after the cameras were fitted, a spokeswoman for the group said: "The difference is incredible. There has been a lot of drug misuse going on and they do it openly. It can be quite intimidating. But these youngsters have just moved away. "

CCTV cameras were first introduced in Darlington in 1994 and since then more than £1.5million has been invested in the system.

There are now more than 90 cameras in the town which have helped the police with more than 3000 arrests.

All the cameras are linked to the CCTV control room which operates round the clock receiving full colour pictures from the cameras which have the capacity to zoom, pan and tilt if operators spot anything suspicious.