Blackpool's New £2m CCTV Control Centre Launch

A Wall of screens welcomes you as you enter this brand-new hub of CCTV delivering high quality images of activity across Blackpool

The £2m upgrades system launch now means that the monitors can zoom close enough to read the jokes on the comedy carpet.

Upgrades of quality improvements to existing systems and new ones put in place to increase coverage for the town, allowing for a boost in crime detection and public safety.

The upgrades to the control room has been completed by the same company that fitted security at Buckingham Palace and Downing Street, a rather prestigious resume, showing the importance of the investment into the upgrades.

Local Authorities have had many reasons to increase public safety, with incidents like the 2017 Manchester bombings, this has put a stronger duty to detect any issues or threats on such local authorities.

However, the system will also be helpful in other situations, such as tacking drunk & disorderly conduct in the town, theft & finding missing children, or in an incident last week, tracking down a missing horse on the Promenade.

Operators of the CCTV system were able to track the animal on its daring great escape as it galloped from Dickson Road to the Central Prom before it was safely captured.

An additional 100 camera's will be fitted with a tannoy system, this will allow for public announcements to be made or to make troublemakers aware they are being watched.

Originally there was 92 camera's around the town but this has been increased to over 300, with places such as Stanley park now included in the extended coverage system.

Coun Neal Brookes, cabinet member for enforcement and public safety at Blackpool Council, said: "It's a game changer for keeping people safe.

"For example if we need to take people away from harm such as if there was a fire, we can use this system, and our events team will know where the crowds are biggest and where there is pressure.

"It also means we have a control centre for the first time which all the emergency services can use.

"But it is not just for the Promenade and the town centre. We also have a lot of CCTV cameras in our residential areas and these will be risk assessed to bring some of these into the system as well."

Specially trained staff and volunteers will be in place to monitor the system, with key times such as weekends having round the clock coverage.

Superintendent Chris Hardy, operations manager for Blackpool and Fylde, said it would deliver additional "eyes and ears" for the police in the town.

He said: "For big events like the Air Show and the World Fireworks Championships, it means we will have multiple eyes with a direct link to the CCTV control center."