CHORLEY'S new weapon in the fight against crime will make the streets a safer place to be, according to council bosses.

It's expected that the new £20,000 on-the-move CCTV camera system - funded through a successful bid to the Home Office last year - will be up and running by the end of March.

The mobile unit will be operational in all of Chorley's surrounding villages, as well as being used in tandem with the Chorley town centre system.

And, the contract to supply and fit the vehicle with cameras and recording equipment has been awarded to Norweb, the company which installed Chorley's town centre system two years ago.

Councillor Bob Crabtree, chairman of Chorley's commercial development committee, believes that the mobile unit will be just as successful as the cameras in the town centre.

He said: "Everyone is agreed that the CCTV cameras in Chorley have made a real difference. Hundreds of incidents have been recorded and many arrests made as a result of what the cameras have captured.

"It was because of the success that we have been determined all along to try and spread the cameras elsewhere."

He added: "We were disappointed two years ago when we failed in our bid to secure funding, but that didn't stop us trying again and the government found favour with our mobile operation.

"Now, we can take this camera out to areas where there are problems or use it in tandem with the Chorley town centre system.

"The great thing about the mobile unit is its flexibility and we believe it will make a significant contribution to what we are trying to achieve - making the streets a safer place to be."

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