AN average of more than ten suspects a week were arrested in Taunton and Wellington last year during or shortly after committing crimes - thanks to CCTV.

And more suspected offenders were caught later on by police investigating footage from the cameras.

Police and business leaders say the 54 cameras around Taunton and six in Wellington are a vital tool in the fight against crime.

Figures just released by Sedgemoor District Council’s CCTV department, which monitors the cameras in Taunton Deane, show there were 1,667 incidents in the district in 2014 resulting in 553 arrests.

Insp Bob Muckett, of Taunton Police, said: “CCTV is a fantastically powerful tool provided by our partners.

“The really good thing is it links in with Somerset West Businesses Against Crime and together we make quite an effective crime fighting tool, not only against offences such as shoplifting and violence against the person, but also low level public disorder linked to when the night time economy is in full swing.”

SWBAC scheme co-ordinator Andy Sharman said: “The partnership between our members and radio link and CCTV provided by the local authority is a really useful asset in reducing crime and anti-social behaviour against our members and creating a safer environment for visitors and staff in the town centre.”

The Bridgwater-based CCTV monitoring centre, which covers Taunton Deane, Sedgemoor and South Somerset, checks on 147 CCTV cameras, as well as a number of Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras.

As well as the 60 cameras in Taunton and Wellington, there are a total of 55 in Bridgwater and Burnham and 25 in Yeovil.

The control room, which is staffed 24 hours a day 365 days a year, dealt with 3,659 live incidents overall last year, resulting in 1,213 arrests.

Manager Barry Donbavand said: “We’ve had another busy year in the CCTV team and continue to work closely with Avon and Somerset Police and our local authority partners to get the best results and make the areas we monitor as safe as possible.”