State-of-the-art security cameras could be fitted to the car park at Keighley railway station within the next five years.

The cameras would be monitored 24 hours a day from a control room covering all of West Yorkshire's rail and bus stations.

The news came from public transport agency Metro in the wake of controversy over lack of security in the Keighley station car park.

Vehicles in the car park and adjacent Low Mill Lane are regularly broken into, and two cars were set on fire last month.

The station car park is currently covered by one camera linked to the booking office, where an image is recorded 24 hours a day.

Metro, which oversees bus and rail services across the county, hopes high-quality CCTV cameras will be installed at all stations by the year 2005. Its five-year plan calls for monitored CCTV, including help and information facilities at all stations. In the longer-term, more staff could be provided at key stations.

Metro will first concentrate on providing cameras where there are currently none, such as the Doncaster line, where CCTV was recently installed. Over the past few years Metro has introduced CCTV at bus stations across West Yorkshire, and the central control centre went "live" in March.

A Metro spokesman says: "Banks of video screens are monitored 24 hours a day, every day, by fully-certificated staff, helping ensure a safe and secure environment at West Yorkshire's bus stations."

Train company Northern Spirit, which runs Keighley station, last week suggested that coverage could be imp-roved if the KWVR provide d an extra camera. About two years ago KWVR and Brad-ford council offered cash to link the car park to Keighley town centre CCTV network.

The plan fell through after Metro refused to pay a share and instead announced its own system.

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