More CCTV cameras will zoom in on crime and anti-social behaviour in Preston city centre

The move is part of a national Safer Streets project funded in partnership with the Home Office.

Preston has been given grants totalling almost £150,000 to help pay for extra security measures which will also include the employment of two part-time "street monitors.”

The cash, which will be matched by £104,279 from the council's own coffers, will pay for three cameras in problem spots together with a raft of other safety improvements.

The city council applied for funding in May and has been awarded £116,555 for the remainder of the 2022/23 financial year and a further £30,013 for the first half of next year.

The Home Office has said the money will "cover the cost of new community safety projects to be delivered between October 1 this year and September 30 in 2023.

Grants have been awarded on a priority basis, with Preston included in the bidding for the primary round of awards.

The funding, which will formally be accepted at a meeting of the cabinet next week, will provide three new CCTV cameras in the city centre.

Other benefits include improving the facilities available for sexual violence recovery services and providing more "diversionary" activities, engagement and education for young people.

It will also pay for the two street monitoring staff, provide training on vulnerability in the night-time economy and also provide additional taxi stewarding to help people get home safely after a night out.

The Home Office says the aims should be to reduce anti-social behaviour, provide safer streets for all, prevent crimes of violence against women and girls and ensure safety inside and outside licensed premises.

Three specific areas in Preston - two in the city centre and a third in St Matthews ward adjoining the city centre - were identified in agreement with the Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner as those where the money should be spent to bring down street crime and anti-social behaviour.

The cabinet report says the Crime and Disorder Act of 1989 "places a duty upon the council to do all that it reasonably can to prevent crime and disorder including anti-social behaviour, the misuse of drugs, alcohol and other substances, re-offending and serious violence in its area.”