TRADERS and householders have welcomed a decision to install extra security cameras in Abingdon - just months after a number of them were switched off.

Increased use of the cameras has been made possible following the launch of a £25,000 scheme by the Vale of White Horse to improve cameras in the town, and in Wantage.

Only three months ago, the district council decommissioned six cameras in Abingdon as part of a cost-cutting review of the camera network across the district.

Cameras in Stert Street, Peachcroft shopping centre, Audlett Drive, Reynolds Way and two in Saxton Way were turned off. However, they will be switched on again, five others revamped and two more installed in a new development of flats.

The Neave Mews flatsin Abingdon will get two new cameras in May, as part of an agreement with developers.

The council said the cameras were removed in November because they were blocked by new buildings or were covered by other cameras.

However, the council has not said why it is reactivating the cameras or why the spots have been chosen.

Liz Hayden, community safety manager at the Vale of White Horse District Council, said: "Although the cameras in Abingdon still worked fine, some of them had been in operation for more than ten years and it was becoming increasingly difficult to get spare parts and to repair them. The new cameras have vastly improved the scope of vision and the quality of the movement that our CCTV operators are able to detect.

"It is also good that we were able to ensure that the decommissioned cameras, which are still in good condition are put to good use."

The Vale of White Horse District Council pays £140,000 a year for its CCTV service, which is in operation 24 hours a day.

David Perry, who owns the Sandwich Box in Bury Street, said: "More cameras are definitely a good thing. We have had antisocial behaviour around the area. Only a few weeks ago I had someone urinating at the back of the shop, which is a bit disturbing. We have also had groups of youths racially abusing my wife.

"But the fact the cameras are there would act as some kind of deterrent - though I am not sure it would stop it altogether."

Chief Inspector Phil Littlechild, police area commander for Abingdon, said: "The CCTV cameras in Abingdon and Wantage town centres are an extremely valuable crime-fighting tool. Not only do they help catch criminals in action, they also serve as a good deterrent to put people off committing crime."