CCTV costing Britons millions

Councils spent £515m installing and operating CCTV cameras over the last four years, a campaign group has revealed.

Big Brother Watch said Birmingham City Council and Westminster City Council each spent more than £11m on surveillance cameras.

The group claimed the money could have been used to put an extra 4,000 police officers on the street.

BBW director Nick Pickles said: "Britain has an out-of-control surveillance culture that is doing little to improve public safety, but has made our cities the most watched in the world.

"Surveillance is an important tool in modern policing, but it is not a substitute for policing.

"In too many cities across the country every corner has a camera - but only a few ever see a police officer.

"Despite millions of cameras, Britain's crime rate is not significantly lower than comparable countries that do not have such a vast surveillance state.

"There is no credible evidence that more cameras will reduce crime."

In terms of the number of cameras, Leicester topped the list with 2,083 after spending £4.8m over four years.

Emma Boon, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "There is no sense in councils pouring taxpayers' money into CCTV if it is doing nothing to reduce crime."

But Tom Reeve, the editor of SecurityNewsDesk.com, said: "Getting rid of CCTV to spend on extra police officers would make about as much sense as shutting down fingerprint and DNA labs.

"CCTV is an important investigative tool and, far from calling for a reduction in the number of cameras, the public want more CCTV."

The 10 authorities that spent the most on CCTV were:

1. Birmingham City - £14,293,060 (636 cameras)

2. Westminster City - £11,831,554 (153 cameras)

3. Leeds - £8,762,292 (253 cameras)

4. City of Edinburgh - £6,211,425.30 (232 cameras)

5. Croydon - £5,329,589 (84 cameras)

6. Enfield - £4,996,900 (169 cameras)

7. Cambridge - £4,973,984 (141 cameras)

8. Wandsworth - £4,771,080.14 (1,158 cameras)

9. Leicester - £4,762,729.94 (2,083 cameras)

10. Barnet - £4,690,742.29 (141 cameras)