THE town council is hoping to get funding to expand the use of CCTV cameras in Chippenham town centre.

A funding application has been submitted to North Wiltshire District Council and if accepted two more cameras could be in position by the end of the year.

There are currently 24 cameras operating in the High Street, Borough Parade and around the Museum and Heritage Centre.

Coun Sandie Webb said the cameras were very successful at helping with prosecutions as well as preventing people from committing crimes in the first place.

In the last year, 378 incidents have been located by the cameras in the town, leading to 52 arrests.

Coun Webb said the cameras were particularly good because the town council choose to have them maintained by professionals, who got more reliable results than systems run by volunteers.

She said: "It is easier to get a prosecution to the final stages and the police are very pleased with it."

The current scheme costs around £73,000 a year to run a cost of £2.41 per resident in the last financial year.

A customer satisfaction survey carried out by the town council revealed that 54 per cent of people thought the CCTV scheme was good to excellent, 33 per cent thought it was satisfactory and 13 per cent viewed it as poor.

Coun Webb said the council was now working with the police to identify where the new cameras should go.

She said the bus station on Timber Street had been identified as one potential hotspot along with New Road and Station Hill.

Ray Lane, head of service delivery at Chippenham Town Council, said the council would also be looking for district council help towards the cost of running the service.