THIEVES in Sutton could be caught on camera if plans to install closed circuit television go ahead.

Residents and shopkeepers down Back Main Street are so fed up with the increase in car thefts, break-ins and damage over the past six months, they are taking matters into their own hands.

Several of the residents have got together to draw up plans to install a CCTV system down the street which will cost householders just £1 a week.

And for the same price again a security company will patrol the street three times a night to check for prowlers.

District Councillor Steve Place, who owns a shop which backs on to Back Main Street,said that the residents felt they had to help themselves, rather than rely on an over-stretched police force.

The street was private, unadopted and had no public right of access, he explained.

"It is cheap and easy to install CCTV in this day and age and there is no better deterrent. To protect my home, my car and my family for £2 a week is nothing, and it buys me peace of mind," Coun Place added.

The residents are considering installing a four camera system with a digital box, which would record the streets for three months without the need to change tapes and the footage could be used as police evidence.

The system would not be monitored, but the pictures would be viewed if an incident took place.

The scheme would cost in the region of £18,000 to buy, and £8.99 per week plus VAT to rent.

Coun Place asked the Craven Area Forum whether funding would be available and what were the implications of the Human Rights Act and Data Protection.

Coun Mike Doyle said there could be a possibility of funding from Craven District Council. "The technology is getting cheaper, so we may see it spreading to many more places."

All of the residents are to be consulted and would have to agree to having their homes filmed. It would become a condition of their house sales to accept CCTV.

Chief Inspector Nick Smedley, the district police commander, said there could be problems with data protection, as well as human rights issues, and that permission would be needed from the householders covered by the cameras.

"But providing it is lawful and everything is done that needs to be done, we would support anything which would assist our job and get information to help us," he said.

Craven Crime Reduction Partnership Co-ordinator Alan Atkins said that the partnership was looking at having a mobile CCTV system travelling around rural villages.

"I am currently looking at a mobile CCTV system. Because of the nature of our area is mainly rural, a system like Skipton would be no use to anywhere except Skipton," he said.

At the meeting Chief Inspector Smedley said that in the first six months of the crime statistics year, the Cross Hills area had seen a reduction in crime, which bucked the trend for Craven and North Yorkshire.

"In the first six months, we are showing an 18 per cent decrease in all types of crime," he said.

He said that there was a slight decrease in house burglaries, violent crimes were significantly down, and autocrime was nine per cent down. There had been a slight increase in public disorder offences.

He added that a significant problem in the Cross Hills area was travelling criminals from over the border. He said that North Yorkshire Police were working closely with their West Yorkshire and Lancashire counterparts to tackle this problem.