WORK is to start this week on Darlington's first residential closed circuit television system.

Darlington Borough Council is spending £400,000 of Government money to install 11 CCTV cameras on the Firthmoor estate.

The cash is also allowing the authority to buy two new cameras, one on Yarm Road and one on Victoria Road, as well as linking GNER's cameras at Bank Top Station to the council's central control room.

The Firthmoor scheme will cost £275,000 to complete and it should be up and running by the end of March.

Cameras will provide the estate with 24-hour coverage with live pictures relayed to the control room, where they will be monitored around the clock.

It will cost £141,000 to link GNER's 24 camera system at Bank Top Station to the CCTV control centre.

Council leader John Williams said: "Town centre CCTV cameras have proved to be effective both in helping to bring criminals to justice and as a crime deterrent.

"Now the residents of Firthmoor can look forward to improved security from a system that has got a proven track record in helping to reduce crime and the fear of crime."

At present, 40 cameras provide around-the-clock coverage for Darlington's town centre.

It was revealed only last week that cameras covering the town centre car parks have helped to cut the number of vehicle-related crimes for the sixth year in a row.

The council says the cameras have all but wiped out car park crime in the heart of the town. But it aims to avoid complacency and has warned criminals that the cameras will continue to keep a 24-hour watch on their activities.

The latest figures show that this year there have been just 30 car crime incidents. That compares with 38 incidents from January to December last year.

Forty cameras that are able to pan, tilt and zoom, provide around-the-clock coverage of the town centre car parks.

The system was installed in 1994, at a cost of £750,000, when 374 incidents of car crime were recorded during the year.

Insp Sue Collingwood, of Darlington police, said: "We are delighted with the effect of the cameras.

"It is positive in terms of reducing vehicle-rated crime, and also good for the town centre in general, because it makes shoppers more comfortable, and that can only be good for businesses in Darlington.