Attleborough and the other Breckland towns will soon be covered by one of the most advanced CCTV systems in the country.Officers behind the �3.5m Breckland scheme say the state-of-the-art digital network will also have the scope to be used in rural areas to tackle crime and make people feel safer.

Attleborough and the other Breckland towns will soon be covered by one of the most advanced CCTV systems in the country.

Officers behind the �3.5m Breckland scheme say the state-of-the-art digital network will also have the scope to be used in rural areas to tackle crime and make people feel safer.

And it will have the capacity for businesses and homeowners to link up their own cameras to it.

More than 60 digital dome cameras are being installed at locations in Thetford (24 cameras), Dereham (11), Swaffham (10), Attleborough (nine) and Watton (seven) and is replacing the 15-year-old analogue system.

There are also some 'rapid reployment' cameras which can be re-located if there are troublespots, including outlying villages.

Attleborough's cameras will be located in- Queen's Square, Queen's Square car park (east), Queen's Square car park (west), Church Street, Sainsbury's car park, High Street, Exchange Street, Connaught Hall and Station Road.

It is a wireless system - operated from a control room in Thetford - and will give provide high quality pictures, which are so much more reliable as court evidence.

Breckland Council has signed a 10-year partnership with Advance Monitoring Solutions and Axis Communications for the network, which will be fully operational by March 31.

Breckland's community safety officer Grahame Green said: 'For the district to get something of this magnitude is quite phenomenal. It is going to be the most sophisticated in the country.

'This is a deterrent and it is not just about catching people. The images will be much crisper and sharper. It is a system for the community which we want the community to be involved in.'

The cameras - which can turn 450 degrees in a second - can work on very low lighting levels and can get infra red back up.

Police can get remote access to monitor pictures, whereas at the moment they would have to drive to the control room at Thetford.

Other features are loud speakers which will allow control room staff to give messages to people in the area and there is also the chance for people to text in messages to the control room.