A TOWN'S bid for CCTV to help shoppers feel safer has been given a £7,000 boost.

Whitworth is to become one of the first towns in the country to benefit from CCTV cameras hidden by advertising boards after Rossendale's Lancashire Local committee backed the scheme.

It approved £7,000 from its innovation fund which would match fund money already pledged by the town council to pay for the cameras.

Whitworth Town Council is seeking planning permission to introduce the innovative project and put up six electronic Amberwatch display panels.

It uses advertising revenue, generated by the display panels, to pay for the CCTV cameras and maintenance costs - saving council tax payers' money and providing an extra source of funding to the town council which gets a share of advertising revenue.

The panels can also be used to advertise local community events, and emergency services can use them to display information.

Built-in cameras would run from the boundary of Britannia to Healey Corner, to cover key areas such as the new civic hall site, leisure centre, and the town centre.

Whitworth County Councillor Sean Serridge said: "I am delighted Lancashire Local committee supported the scheme, and agreed the £7,000 to fund the CCTV cameras, along with the town council.

"It is great to see Whitworth, and i -particular the town council taking a lead role, not only in Lancashire, but across the whole country in trialling the Amberwatch scheme. "The CCTV cameras are an added bonus, supported by the police, and will be an asset to not only fighting crime, but protecting the new civic hall from vandalism."

Former Whitworth Mayor and Independent councillor Alan Neal added: "This would be one of the first in the country after it had a successful trial in Sussex.

"We are trying to make the town as safe as possible for the people who live, work and visit."

The planning application will be considered by officers at Rossendale Council before a recommendation is sent to planners at Lancashire County Council for a decision. A date has not yet been set.