CCTV cameras go domestic

Cameras are being fixed above doors on the houses

Residents of estates in Cumbria are having personal CCTV cameras fitted outside their front doors.

Domestic surveillance cameras have been fitted in areas of Carlisle where statistics show people are five times more likely to be burgled than elsewhere in the UK.

The cameras, in the Petteril Bank and Brookside areas of the city, plug into a standard video recorder so that people approaching the house can be seen on television.

Police Constable Richard Edwards from Carlisle Police said: "Previous incidents have shown that there is a strong link between many of these burglaries and drug addiction.

Residents can watch visitors on television

"The cameras will improve the confidence of the public to address the problem and provide an extra tool to the police in tackling burglaries."

Crime figures compiled between between October 1997 and September 2000 reveal that just four drug-dependant burglars were responsible for committing nearly half of the burglaries in Petteril Bank and Brookside.

It is hoped that 500 cameras will be fitted, using £35,000 from the Government's Communities Against Drugs initiative.

Jenny Callaghan, a member of Petteril Bank Residents' Association, said: "I am sure this scheme will attract widespread support in the area.

"Not only will it act as a deterrent and reduce people's fears of crime but it will help to bring the community closer together."