A NEW CCTV control room which monitors the streets of Daventry has been officially opened.
In total 35 cameras are watching over the town centre 24-hours-a-day from the hub, which was opened last week at the Heartlands Business Park.
The future of CCTV in the town was in doubt last year after Daventry District Council (DDC) decided to pull its funding.
But in January a joint partnership was reached after Daventry Town Council voted in favour of taking over the ownership of the CCTV network.
The town council will pay £32,000 in 2012/2013 to keep the cameras running, with £15,000 coming from DDC and £10,000 from Northamptonshire Police.
At the unveiling of the new control room, Daventry police officers spoke about the importance of maintaining the cameras in town.
Insp Paul Valentine said: “CCTV was in doubt for some time and we are delighted its future has been secured.
“The cameras are integral to our crime strategy in Daventry. It’s not just about detective work, its aim is to prevent crimes in the first place.”
The cameras will record footage around the clock but will only be manned at peak times every day.
Previously the CCTV control room had been based in Wellingborough, and Insp Valentine believes moving it to Daventry will also help reduce crime.
He added: “Having this in the town makes a massive difference.
“The people working in the control room know Daventry and can therefore relay better information when needs be.
“Police officers can also pop in easily, which is something we weren’t able to do before.”
There is also potential for the camera network to grow as the town gets bigger.
Chris Healy, from Crimesecure, which runs the control room, said: “The system we have in place allows us to expand if necessary.
“This may well happen if the town gets bigger and we need more cameras and it is also possible we will expand to some of the bigger villages.
“For example, Long Buckby train station is probably an area which could benefit from having CCTV. We have the space and capacity here at the control room to grow as necessary.”
Daventry Town Council clerk Deborah Jewell was delighted to see the new control room open.
She said: “We were all worried we would lose the CCTV but after a lot of hard work the future of it in the town has been secured and there is potential to expand.
“It shows what you can do with a joint partnership and this will help keep Daventry safe.”
“The police, Daventry District Council, Daventry Town Council the Community Safety Partnership and Daventry Business Partnership are all involved.”
MP Chris Heaton-Harris added: “We can’t underestimate how important it is to have CCTV in the town. I’m delighted that this new control room has been opened and that we have cameras surveilling the Daventry area.”