THE battle against crime in Wigan has been given a boost with a huge increase in the number of CCTV cameras.

An extra 140 cameras are currently being added to Wigan and Leigh town centres.

The system has already proved effective in the fight against crime.

Between May 2001 and April 2002, CCTV has played an active role in 180 arrests and nearly 600 video recordings from the control room have been released to the police for evidential purposes.