Basildon town centre could at last get round-the-clock CCTV coverage after two years of glitches and technical problems.

A study is being launched to find out whether the town's patchwork of private and council-owned cameras can be unified to give 24-hour cover.

Although Basildon Council's ten cameras scan the town 24 hours a day, they are not continuously monitored.

There have also been technical problems which have hampered the system's effectiveness.

That means shoppers, pub-goers and pedestrians may not be as safe as they think.

The Town Centre Forum, made up of police, traders and Basildon Council, has now agreed to fund a study to look at ways of linking the town's separate systems in one monitoring room and increasing the number of cameras.

Town centre manager Kerry Davison said: "The goal is to merge the existing CCTV systems and have them all working from one control centre, staffed 24 hours a day, possibly with an extra six to ten cameras."

Private systems operated by Westgate Park, the Eastgate Shopping Centre and the Town Centre Management company do not work in line with the council's £160,000 system.

The problem was brought into sharp focus last month when vandals smashed a window at the MVC store in Westgate Park.

Although the centre's private cameras caught the incident on film, Basildon Council claimed its cameras were focused on the town centre and the vandals escaped.

One source, who asked not to be identified, said: "There have been ongoing problems and the cameras are not performing as well as you would expect.

"In the past they have failed to get a good enough image of someone committing a crime and failed to follow them."

When the council's CCTV system is manned a controller can alert police to any emergency in the town square, town centre and Gloucester Park areas.

When it is not manned input is from the cameras is recorded onto tape.

Forum member Supt Denis Sheppard, of Basildon police, said: "Basildon is a safe place to shop and does not have high levels of crime compared to other similar towns.

"Clearly, a shared, properly co-ordinated and fully staffed CCTV system would be a great boost for the town centre."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.