A REVIEW of CCTV security cameras in Hambleton has been completed.

Councillors concluded that the cameras do deter crime and help reduce the fear of crime, but made a number of recommendations for the future of the system.

The district council started the review in November, following the authority's decision to suspend the introduction of CCTV in Bedale and its extension in Thirsk. The cuts were made following the Government's capping of the council's budget.

Councillor Tony Hall, chairman of the scrutiny committee which carried out the review, said: "The committee recognised the benefits of providing CCTV, and this being the case, considered that within the limited budget, CCTV should be expanded to all market towns to ensure a fair and equitable approach.

"The committee could not, however, support further cameras being placed in market towns where they were currently located, or other villages, until this objective has been achieved."

He also said deployable cameras should not be used as an alternative to fixed cameras.

"The committee established that fixed cameras were expensive to erect and difficult to move, but that information from deployable cameras was slow to download and the quality not as good," he said.

"The committee was therefore certain that deployable CCTV did not provide a viable alternative to fixed cameras."

But he added that: "They did have a role to play, particularly in market towns where crime was displaced from the town centres."