CRIME cameras are to be installed in West Cornforth to improve security in the village high street.

Sedgefield Borough Council has received Home Office funding of £91,000 for the four cameras.

They are to be sited at the junction of Station Road with Thrislington Industrial Estate, High Street, the junction of High Street and Cuthbert Road, and the car park at The Slake pub.

Three cameras will monitor shops and services in the High Street. The other will monitor the playground at Cornforth Community Park.

They will be operated by the council's community force, based at nearby Chilton.

Planning permission for the cameras is expected to be granted at a meeting of Sedgefield Borough Council's development control committee tomorrow.

If all goes according to plan, it is hoped the cameras will be in place and fully operational by March.