WORK on installing a huge CCTV system in Redditch town centre will begin in the new year as a contractor was due to be appointed this week.

The move follows a long planning process by Redditch Community Safety Partnership, which includes the council and the police.

The scheme began this time last year and has included two successful bids to the Government for £310,000 to set up the system.

A total of 18 cameras will now be sited around the town after the director of a proposed nightclub in Church Road agreed to pump an extra £30,000 into the scheme.

Kingfisher Centre owners Thornfield have also agreed to inject £35,000 into the project.

Project manager Tariq Khan said: We are looking at appointing a contractor this week following a long process involving evaluation and short-listing more than 30 firms.

Mr Khan added: It has been hard work getting here and it's great to get to this stage. We are looking forward to getting the scheme up and running.

"It has been a real partnership effort.

A total of £15,000 has been pledged for a second CCTV project, which will see cameras installed in the town's smaller shopping centres.

It will also mean cameras being set up at the Countryside Centre at Arrow Valley Lake, which has suffered vandalism over the past year.

The partnership is looking at putting four bids into the Government and the pledged money has come from a number of neighbourhood groups and the private sector.