BOLTON'S town centre cameras should be working by the end of the month, according to sources at the town hall.

Council chiefs have been handed £40,000 of Government cash to update the CCTV system, and they have used the money to buy state-of-the-art cameras that will replace the ones that do not work.

Bosses are now waiting for them to be linked up to the monitoring system, which should take around two weeks.

A council spokesman said it had taken so long to fix three broken CCTV cameras because they were carrying out modernisation work, updating equipment to a higher digital quality.

The cameras will cover Bradshawgate, Churchgate and Deansgate.

Council chiefs had said in August that the system would be fixed within eight weeks -- a deadline which passed a week ago. A council spokesman said: "The money came from the Government's Street Crime Initiative funding. They will begin operating as soon as the cameras are integrated into the monitoring system."

The new cameras, which are black and white, are said to be of far greater quality than the current ones.

Bolton North-east MP David Crausby, who has been pushing the council to repair its cameras, said: "It's a shame it's taking so long but at least something is being done.

"I would like to see more cameras installed though. At one time I would perhaps of been against CCTV, considering it an imposition, but I'm afraid they are essential. They help tremendously in cutting street crime and detecting criminals."

The existing cameras monitor Bradshawgate, Churchgate, Great Moor Street, Deansgate and Nelson Square. The system was put in 15 years ago and was one of the first to be installed in the country.