Teignmouth Town Council is to increase its eyes on the town with the addition of up to three redeployable CCTV cameras.

The addition of these moveable cameras means that the council will be able to temporarily focus on a particular area if there is a spate of criminal activity. The town council will also be able to move the cameras in response to police intelligence about parts of the town where there might be potential trouble.

Teignmouth Town Council recently invested in a new CCTV system with state-of-the-art cameras covering the seafront, town centre and Bitton Park. The cameras have already provided useful evidence to the local police in several investigations.

The redeployable CCTV cameras are being funded by a £31,000 grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which is administered by Teignbridge District Council.

The UKSPF is government money that is shared out by district council to help ‘improve pride in place and life chances across the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local businesses, and people and skills’.

Elsewhere in Teignbridge, towns have used UKSPF money for updating shop fronts in Dawlish and Moretonhampstead, adding community information signage in Bovey Tracey and creating a new town website in Newton Abbot. Moretonhampstead Parish Council also secured UKSPF cash to pay for a traffic survey to look at ways of reducing through-traffic in the town to create a safer, more welcoming environment for residents and visitors.

Due to time limits on application dates and when the money could be spent, many town and parish councils were unable to pursue projects that would have involved requesting external permissions, such as from the planning authorities.