BROMSGROVE council is to help make the streets of the neighbouring Wyre Forest district safer for residents.

The local authority has agreed to monitor seven district council-owned closed circuit television cameras, which are being installed in Kidderminster town centre.

John Moody, head of Bromsgrove's Community Safety Partnership, said: "We are delighted to have this opportunity to work in partnership with our colleagues at Wyre Forest District Council and to share with them the success of our CCTV system.

"We have logged more than 30,000 incidents since June 1998, when we first went live with 26 cameras within our own district at Bromsgrove and Rubery.

"Now we have 84 cameras throughout the Bromsgrove district, monitored 24 hours a day, every day of the week from our control centre."

Mr Moody added: "We are always eager to do everything we can to improve community safety so that people living in and visiting the area can feel safe and secure."

The cameras help to deter crime and assist the police in their work both in catching criminals and curbing anti-social behaviour.

Wyre Forest District Council was encouraged to ask Bromsgrove to monitor its cameras following praise from the Government Office, West Midlands.

Wyre Forest is paying all fees and costs relative to the scheme, which will not affect future plans to introduce CCTV to parts of Bromsgrove currently without the service.