Two new CCTV cameras have been installed in Keswick town centre in a high-tech crime-busting initiative.
The public surveillance system has been installed at a cost of nearly £20,000 in a joint move by Cumbria police and Keswick Town Council.
One camera has been put up outside of John Young’s store in Main Street to provide coverage of much of Market Square.
The other is high up on a lamp-post outside the Fat Face shop opposite the town council’s offices on Main Street, providing views up Bank Street and also onto the square.
Live or recorded footage can be viewed by police officers at the force headquarters at Penrith to pick up street offences or prevent crime.
Images will also be available for court prosecutions.
“It is a great day for Keswick and another important element of safety and peace of mind for people in the town,” said Keswick’s deputy mayor Cllr David Burn, pictured outside John Young’s under the newly installed CCTV camera.“We get 24/7 surveillance so police can monitor what is going on in Keswick and nip it in the bid,” he added.
Cumbria’s police and crime commissioner Peter McCall provided a £6,000 grant for the CCTV system, with the town council contributing nearly £13,000.
It replaces the old obsolete one that was taken down several years ago and a follows a three-year campaign by the town council stretching back to December 2017.
“It took us six years to get a speed indicator device on Chestnut Hill, so three years for this is an express project!” said Cllr Burn.
He added: “The police and the manufacturers have worked well with us.
“Keswick is a pretty safe place but what we hadn’t had for a good while was a police presence.
“We now have three police officers based in the town at the fire station and the new CCTV system, which is a huge advantage.
“The officers can’t be everywhere and the CCTV cameras will provide a high-quality service,”
Keswick used to have its own police station in Bank Street – and indeed magistrates’ court next door – but both of these were closed and sold off to the Wetherspoon pub chain.
