A NATIONAL Lottery grant is helping to tackle anti-social behaviour in a crime hit area.

New CCTV cameras and upgrades to existing systems have been installed in North Ormesby to increase public confidence after a survey showed 60 per cent of residents were concerned about the problem.

The work was made possible thanks to the National Lottery-funded Big Local Project which will see more than £1 million invested in community initiatives over a ten-year period.

In partnership with Middlesbrough Council the project has responded to community concerns by funding the installation of an additional 32 cameras and two ‘talking’ cameras on the market place.

Chairman of the North Ormesby Big Local Reverend Dominic Black said: “This is a good opportunity for our community to see a clampdown on crime and anti-social behaviour.”

Cheryl Dixon, BEM and vice chairwoman, added: “The improvement and installation of the CCTV will go along away to ensuring North Ormesby residents feel a lot safer in their community.”

Following discussions with local residents, Middlesbrough Council, Cleveland Police, private sector security companies and housing associations, crime ‘hotspot’ data was used to pinpoint specific locations which would benefit most from new cameras.

Councillor Mick Thompson, Middlesbrough Council’s executive member for communities and public health, said: “Local residents have made it very clear that they wanted to feel safer in their community and that more and improved CCTV should be provided.

“The various agencies working within the ward now have access to increased information-sharing and intelligence-gathering which will undoubtedly have a significant impact on current levels of crime and disorder.

“Not only is it a powerful deterrent, but it will also assist the Police, Council and other agencies in prosecuting those who break the law.”

Local residents and businesses attended an official launch event, with the new system now fully up and running and monitored around the clock from the Council’s central CCTV control room at Middlesbrough Bus Station.

Police and council staff can access the footage, which can play a key role in criminal and civil cases against individuals engaged in criminal or anti-social activity.