Bigger Brother's watching ..but is it really working?; CCTV 'LIMITED AGAINST CRIME'.

FOUR hundred Big Brother cameras that can identify suspects from 600 yards were switched on in a city yesterday.

Another 600 are planned, which will be monitored from a new pounds 3.2million CCTV centre.

But while the Government claims that cameras, which can also read a car number plate from 200 yards, are the best weapon in the fight against crime, others say they are over-rated.

The National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders warned against over-investing in cameras at the expense of "more effective measures" such as street lights.

Spokeswoman Rachel Armitage said: "The effectiveness of CCTV is often overstated."

Nacro said Home Office studies of 24 CCTV schemes in town centres, housing estates, public transport and car parks showed four had led to crime rates rising significantly.

A total of 13 resulted in a significant fall in crime, while seven had no effect. Mark Littlewood, of civil rights campaign group Liberty, added: "It is time for a reassessment of the worth of CCTV in terms of its cost, both financial and in terms of privacy." The new CCTV system in Manchester, where high-quality digital pictures are beamed on to large screens, can also take shots of criminal behaviour - acceptable as courtroom evidence - from five miles away. Cameras are positioned to cover Manchester's main streets, side roads, stores and bars. Images can be stored for up to 30 years.

The system was born out of the devastating IRA bombing in the city six years ago.

Home Office minister Lord Falconer, who opened the Manchester control centre yesterday, said later: "In terms of providing people both with security and a sense of security, this is a good investment.

"Research indicates that in every area there is a statistical reduction in crime. What it is saying is let's get more research done to see how more effectively it can be used."

He insisted that CCTV cameras had a "significant" impact on crime levels where they were properly used and maintained.

Gordon McKinnon, chief executive of the Manchester City Centre Management Company, said: "We can now track criminals from one side of the city centre to the other."

CAPTION(S):

YOU'RE ON CAMERA: Operators in the new pounds 3.2million centre keep watch