80 new CCTV cameras are up and running from Truro to Penzance as part of a new project to cut crime.

Footage streamed live to Tolvaddon Fire Station is being monitored 24 hours a day seven days a week.

Town councils, Cornwall Fire and Rescue and police are involved in
the project - which we are told is already helping police prosecutions.

Hayle Town Council came up with the idea, who after installing
cameras in their own town approached other local councils to see if they
were interested in joining the project.

As a result, eight towns - Camborne, Hayle, Helston, Penzance,
Redruth, Truro, Penryn and Falmouth - are now taking part in the project
with a total of 80 cameras in operation within these locations.

Funded entirely by the Town Councils via council tax, the aim of this
innovative project, believed to be the first of its kind in the
country, is to provide a safer environment for residents, local
businesses and visitors in the eight towns by deterring anti-social
behaviour and preventing crime.

Under a contract awarded to Cornwall Fire, Rescue and Community
Safety Service, the footage from all 80 cameras is being recorded and
monitored by dedicated and specially trained staff based in the
service's Critical Control Centre in Tolvaddon.

The 360-degree state of the art cameras provide high quality digital images which can be used to support police prosecutions.

A link is also being provided to the Emergency Management Centre at
County Hall in Truro so the images can be accessed in emergency
situations such as flooding and major fires.

As staff from the Critical Control Centre have direct links to the
police and ambulance services, this means they can also summon immediate
help for anyone they see who has been taken ill or injured in an
emergency.

A special stakeholders group has been set up to oversee and manage
the project and ensure that the workload is shared among the eight
councils and their partners.

The group, which comprises both Members and Clerks from the Town
Councils, together with representatives from the Fire and Rescue service
and Devon and Cornwall Police, will be chaired by a Member from a
different council each year.

This year's Chair has been Rowenna Brock, from Falmouth Town Council.

She said: "We know that residents in these towns recognised that CCTV
was an effective tool in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour and
wanted it to continue to be used.

"Many people have told us that the use of CCTV makes them feel safer in their communities.

"I am delighted we have been able to achieve this by working with the
police and the fire and rescue service and I am looking forward to
building on the strong partnership which has been developed.

"I would like to pay tribute to everyone who has been involved in
this ground-breaking project which has been nationally praised as 'a
really good model for devolution' and demonstrates how we are 'Working
Together to make Cornwall Safer".

You can hear more from Rowenna below...

Cornwall Fire, Rescue and Community Safety Service's Area Manager
Kevin Thomas said "We are delighted to be working in conjunction with
the Town Councils and consider the partnership to be an excellent
example of localism and devolution. We are very happy to be contributing
to the creation and maintenance of safer communities".

Superintendent Sara Crane, Devon and Cornwall Police Commander for
West Cornwall, added that the positive action of the Town Councils in
working with Community Resilience and the fire and rescue service to
develop the use of CCTV in their local communities was helping to
support the police in dealing more quickly with incidents of anti-social
behaviour.

"We have already seen positive results from the cameras which have already been installed in a number of towns" she said.

The success of the project was also recognised by the Police and
Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez on her recent visit to Cornwall.

5:25pm 7th January 2017