Breckland Council to introduce new surveillance to crack down on rural crime
The council say they will be implementing the new policy with immediate effect.
A Norfolk council is introducing new surveillance cameras in remote areas of the county with 'immediate effect' in an effort to tackle rural crime.
Breckland Council voted to invest in the new devices as part of a crackdown on issues like fly-tipping, graffiti and other environmental crime.
The cameras will be moved between different areas of the district, but are specifically intended to tackle issues in remote parts of the countryside.
Six of those will be 'mobile cameras', which will increase the number of these in use to 10.
Four will be body-worn and two will be dash cams.
Councillor Helen Crane, Breckland's executive member said: " These systems will be used proactively, not just reactively and will help with detecting and deterring crime.
"This policy is needed. It will make Breckland a cleaner, greener and nicer place."
Ms Crane said the cameras would help with enforcement action against fly-tippers, for which a witness or name and address associated with the rubbish is often needed.
The plans follow a review last year by the government and police which found waste crimes and antisocial behaviour were two main contributors towards making people feel unsafe in their communities.
The council said that offenses such as littering often occur in remote areas where surveillance and lighting are low, and where the offender may think they are more likely to go undetected.
Fly tipping is a key issue for the authority, which has become the first to introduce tougher penalties.
Under the new measures, the maximum penalty for fly-tipping has been raised from ÂŁ400 to ÂŁ1000, while littering will now carry a maximum penalty of up to ÂŁ500, which is up from ÂŁ150.
Breckland currently has 94 CCTV cameras that are managed by a third party, and these will be unaffected by the new policy.
The council say they will be implementing the new policy with immediate effect.