Police announce 100 more ANPR cameras for Northamptonshire's roads as part of £1.3m boost

Northamptonshire Police plans to use government cash to pay for 100 new ANPR cameras in the county.

Northamptonshire will have 100 new ANPR cameras added to its roads as part of a £1.3m fund for crime-fighting projects.

The force announced this week (July 28) it will be handed £1.375m in government cash throught he Safer Streets fund to spend on plants to reduce burglaries and robbery, such as new gates on alleys, improved lighting and CCTV.

Now, a second funding worth another £1.3m has been announced to bulk up the county's Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras by around 100 new devices.

Northamptonshire Police say the cameras will be focused on 'strategic' routes in county's rural parts, main towns and borders.

The funding will also pay for increased mobile ANPR vans and 'mobile rapid deployment cameras'.

Consultation with local residents will reportedly take place before any new cameras are deployed.

The funding has been agreed by Northamptonshire's Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold and Chief Constable Nick Adderley.

Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold said: "These extra cameras will mean that Northamptonshire Police are able to maximise the use of technology to fight crime, protect communities and keep people safe.

“I am proud to announce such a significant investment and I hope it shows local people that we are serious about the safety of Northamptonshire while sending the message to criminals that in Northamptonshire, there will be no place to hide.”

Nick Adderley, Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police, said: “This is yet another tool that we will use to show that we are serious about making life difficult for anyone who comes to Northamptonshire to commit crime.

“We are cracking down hard on criminality and ANPR will help us to focus our effort where we can make the most impact. The information we get from ANPR cameras plays an important role in the investigation of countless crimes in Northamptonshire and the arrest of hundreds of criminals every year.

ANPR - Automatic Number Plate Recognition - reads the registration of passing vehicles and checks them across a number of databases, raising the alert if a vehicle is stolen or linked to crime.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said the funding for the ANPR cameras came from the £1.375m Safer Streets fund. The £1.3m for the ANPR cameras is seperate to the Safer Streets Fund.