CCTV upgrade in south Shropshire in bid to tackle rural crime

The new cameras in Craven Arms will provide ANPR coverage on the A49 and key crossing points with other routes often used by criminals carrying out thefts of quad bikes, trailers and farm machinery.

It means that for the first time police will be able to monitor vehicles travelling through Craven Arms in real time.

The £18,000 system has been funded by a £9,000 grant from the Police and Crime Commissioner and £5,500 from Shropshire Council, with the town council making up the shortfall.

New cameras will replace the old two, on the Corvedale Road roundabout and near the community centre, and a new third camera will be positioned at the Clun Road roundabout.

Town council chairman David Mills said: "We have been working on this for quite some time. We have had cameras in Craven Arms for a while but as all CCTV cameras do, they go out of date.

"We has sourced a grant and we were well on the road to replacing them, then we discovered that Highways England no longer allow cameras to be fixed to their street lights. That caused a bit of a delay.

"But our town clerk Eric has persevered and we are now very pleased to say that within six months Craven Arms will have three cameras up and working on our own poles.

"We have got crossroads through Craven Arms, from Bridgnorth towards Bishop's Castle, that is a natural road for people to use – especially those who shouldn't be there."

Councillor Mills said he hoped the new cameras would act as a deterrent to people using the roads through Craven Arms to commit rural crimes.