The number of CCTV cameras in Southend could double after a £1 million cash bid was officially lodged with the Government.

The town's police and the council have already secured £1 million in the summer to boost the eye-in-the-sky cameras from 24 to 38 with a further 74 movement-sensitive cameras covering multi-storey car parks. They will be up and running by April.

Now a bid is being finalised for Home Office funding to increase that again by a further 66 cameras.

Under the proposed extended scheme, housing estates in Woodgrange Drive and York Road would be covered along with Hamlet Court Road in Westcliff. Three cameras would be strategically placed in the hope of capturing criminals attempting to leave the town.

Southchurch Hall Park would be covered by cameras as well as the car parks surrounding the Cliffs Pavilion.

Nightclubbers will be able to feel safer as they travel to and from pubs and clubs as some of the added CCTV cameras would be placed in alleyways and roads around popular venues.

The rest of the seafront up to the Old Leigh area would also come under the watch of the system.

Community safety officer Lyn Fenn, of Southend police, put the bid together and said: "We always wanted to extend the system but had to secure cash for the initial cameras first."

The existing 24 cameras around the town centre, funded by Southend Council, have already helped cut the number of offences by around 30 per cent since they were put in three years ago.

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