OTHER areas can join the new Closed Circuit Television service for Monmouthshire which is now operated from the shared resource centre in Blaenavon.

The service is jointly funded by Monmouthshre and Torfaen councils, with three of the four major towns in Monmouthshire contributing £37,000 towards the running costs.

Speaking at the MCC cabinet meeting last week Councillor Simon Howarth of Gilwern said it was open for other communities to join the scheme. "The door is open to others, it is not just open to towns, other communities can be part of this, the more the merrier and it will help bring down the cost to this council. The citizens of Monmouthshire need to feel safe."

Councillor Phylip Hobson said the new shared resource centre was a major step forward and they were receiving clearer images. He added, "We need to invest more in things like pop-up cameras to cope with anti social behaviour."

Tracey Harry, head of improvement said in a report to the cabinet that the council was committed to developing technology fit for the 21st century from the resource centre and also to collaborative working which could deliver an improved service.

She said Torfaen's CCTV service is already operating, providing 24/7 coverage within the county, and pointed out that Monmouthshire's current stock of cameras have been checked and are fit for the future. "Our weak point is the method by which the images are transported from the camera to the monitoring facility. Our move to Blaenavon will bring that part of the process up to date and provide better quality control and images."

Council leader Councillor Peter Fox said, "I was blown away by the collection of big TV screens and the clarity of the pictures at the resource centre.

"I welcome the opportunity to locate the CCTV service to such a high standard facility."

Councillor Bryan Jones said the previous CCTV monitoring provision was struggling to deliver a service and this was a good example of a successful partnership between MCC and TCBC."

Chief executive Paul Matthews said, "We are open to do business with anyone who wants to do business with us.

"We are co-owners of the centre so we have the ability to do what we want."

The current budget for CCTV in Monmouthshire is £88,590 and this is spent on salaries, BT connection charges, monitoring and CDS maintenance.

A review of the new service will be carried out in a year.