BIG Brother is watching...but in some Essex towns, he has a beadier eye on you than in others.

Research by privacy campaigners Big Brother Watch places Colchester at the top of the league in north and mid Essex for the number of CCTV cameras monitoring people.

There are a total of 141 cameras in the Colchester Council-run network, equivalent to 0.9 cameras per 1,000 residents.

The Big Brother Watch research also shows the number of council-controlled cameras has nearly tripled in the past decade to 60,000.

It claims local councils pay huge sums to run cameras, with littler proof they solve or deter crimes.

Colchester Council has spent more than £300,000 upgrading its network in the past two years and is unabashed by its approach.

Tim Young, the authority’s street services supremo, said the near-blanket coverage of the town centre offered invaluable help to police.

He said: “The latest figures showed they assisted in an amazing number of arrests – I think it was more than 900.

“It works for Colchester and people can feel safe and secure in the town centre.

“We certainly don’t have plans to scale them back.”

Ironically, given the latest statistics, the council has only recently come in for criticism from traders for not having enough cameras, following a spate of incidents when windows were smashed while they were pointing the other way.

However, experiments have shown that, if operators are searching the central shopping streets for a suspect, they can manoeuvre the cameras and track them down virtually anywhere.

The council team, which controls the cameras, works in partnership with major stores, such as Williams and Griffin, where security staff have pictures of known offenders up on the wall.

If a serial shoplifter is sighted in a store, the word is sent out and the cameras are used to follow their progress through town.

Essex Police share the enthusiasm for the all-seeing eye on the High Street.

Nishan Wijeratne, a police spokesman, said: “CCTV cameras, mobile or static, are a useful police tool in recognising potential problems, identifying suspects and even deterring people from committing crime.”

At the other end of the scale, Braintree Council has one of the smallest CCTV networks in the country, with only nine static cameras, equivalent to 0.1 cameras per 1,000 residents.

Wendy Schmitt, councillor responsible for communities, argued more cameras did not mean less crime.

She said: “You cannot keep throwing money at what is basically public perception, when the reality is it doesn’t make much difference whatsoever.

“We have got the CCTV vehicle, which is far more effective because it follows the problem, whereas with the ones that are static, people know they are there and obviously avoid them.”

She said the district was one of the safest places in the country due to the regular patrolling by police, environmental health officers and community wardens.

Despite the sceptical approach, the council is due to bring four cameras online in Halstead town centre later this month.

Another town looking at more cameras is Maldon, where CCTV is being considered by the district’s community safety partnership to counter vandalism in King Street, adding to the existing 49 cameras.

Clacton’s first spy cameras were put up in the town centre 12 years ago.

There were just five in the resort in 1997, but the number across Tendring has now soared to more than 100.

Vandalism and public disorder offences plummeted when cameras were first used in Walton ten years ago.

The cameras are operated by Tendring Council from a hi-tech central control centre with a link to Clacton police station.

Staff monitoring the screens can immediately alert officers to incidents and potential trouble.

The council says the CCTV system has provided valuable evidence to the police on a number of occasions.

However, Alex Deane, Big Brother Watch director, said: “Local councils across Britain are creating enormous networks of CCTV surveillance, at great expense, but the evidence for the ability of CCTV to deter or solve crimes is sketchy at best.

“The quality of footage is frequently too poor to be used in courts, the cameras are often turned off to save money and control rooms are rarely manned 24-hours-a-day.”

Instead, Mr Deane has called for funding to be directed towards putting more police officers on the beat.