TWO community CCTV projects are set to receive funding for replacement cameras from the office of Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Hogg.

A representative from Mr Hogg’s office met representatives of Launceston and Bude’s CCTV projects last week.

At the beginning of the year, Mr Hogg agreed, in principle, to support the projects in the two towns.

A spokesperson from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) told the Post: “At that stage the scale of the savings which the police service will be required to make over the next four years was not apparent. However, the Commissioner has announced that he will honour his commitment to the two towns and provide financial support for the replacement of cameras which are no longer fit for use.”

The amount of funding has not yet been confirmed by the OPCC, but is understood to be in the region of a few thousand pounds for each project.

The PCC’s office spokesperson continued: “The Commissioner is providing seed funding for a pilot project which will be used to evaluate whether an injection of PCC funding can help establish sustainable and valuable community based CCTV systems, capable in the long term of funding their own capital and running costs.

“Local chambers of commerce and major/prestige businesses will be approached for contributions to develop local funding streams and to create a reserve fund which will secure the long term financial resilience of the CCTV systems.

“If sufficient funding can be generated the present level of coverage will be expanded to include more evenings when the systems are operated by trained volunteers. The success of the initial project will be evaluated after six months.

“Unfortunately, the severity of the savings which Devon and Cornwall Police will face over the next few years will make it very difficult to support such community-based initiatives in the future.”

The OPCC said it, the local councils and CCTV projects, will work together to generate a reserve fund to help assure the long term sustainability of CCTV provision.

Chair of the Bude Community CCTV Project David Parsons said: “Obviously we are delighted that the Police and Crime Commissioner has recognised the work that has been done by local volunteers and has agreed to support it to continue the monitoring of the town centre.

“I am also very pleased that he is going to give us help to approach other businesses to see if we can build up a solid, long term fund for it.”

Launceston Community CCTV Project was formed six years ago, providing four CCTV cameras to the town centre. The project assists the police to keep law and order and ensure the town centre is a safe place. It is run independently from the police by a committee and team of volunteer operators.

As well as the PCC, the Launceston Community CCTV Project has been given a boost by a £2,000 grant, provided by the Launceston Community Foundation Crimebeat Fund.

Launceston Town Council gives an annual grant to the project for the maintenance of the system.

John Ellison, chairman of Launceston Community CCTV Project, said: “The grant money will be used to upgrade the cameras to high definition. The new cameras will give enhanced clarity, with greater detail to pictures, especially at night.

“This will enable better identification and lead to greater prosecution of offenders of assaults, crime and anti-social behaviour.

“We are very grateful to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Launceston Community Foundation in helping to make our town centre a safer place for all.

“Launceston continues to be a very safe and friendly town and the CCTV project helps to ensure that it stays that way.”