CCTV

View from a CCTV camera       CCTV camera image of car park 

The control room operates a 24-hours a day, 365 day service and monitors CCTV cameras in the following locations:

  • Darlington Town Centre as well as other areas of Darlington
  • Bishop Auckland town centre (on behalf of Durham County Council)
  • Crook town centre (on behalf of Durham County Council)
  • Bank Top Railway Station (on behalf of East Coast Trains)
  • Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College playing fields
  • Mowden Shops (on behalf of Yuills)  
  • There are also CCTV camera located in some of our bus shelters. These are managed by Transport.

Bus stop CCTV

The bus stop CCTV system is not a spy system. It is not hidden or secretive, it is there to help deter crime.

This system operates on a permanent 24-hour basis. All images are overwritten after 28 days unless an official evidential request has been received. We do not offer for sale or accept offers of money for images.

All requests by members of the public to view images should be made through Freedom of Information.

All staff involved in the operation of the bus stop CCTV system are thoroughly vetted, including a check by the Criminal Records Bureau.

Bus Stop CCTV code of practice [pdf document]

We provide the following services:

  • Monitoring of CCTV cameras.
  • Monitoring of intruder, fire and other alarms.
  • Monitoring of lone worker devices.
  • Is the contact centre for all emergency calls from clients on the Lifeline Service.
  • A fall back service for other alarm receiving centres (ARC’s).
  • Provision of an out of hours service to the Primary Care Trust.
  • The contact for all Help Points located in the Councils car parks.
  • Control of the bollards to the pedestrian heart areas.
  • Traffic reports to the local radio stations.

We also can offer a range of services to businesses including linking their alarms to our monitoring centre and monitoring their CCTV cameras.

For more information please contact us on 01325 388279.

Regulation

The provision of CCTV systems and the monitoring of cameras is regulated by the Information Commissioners Office’s [external link] 

CCTV code of practice [PDF document]

Standards

All staff employed to work in the control room have:

  • An advanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) vetting check carried out on them.
  • A Security Industry Authority (SIA) Licence [external link] which allows them to operate the CCTV cameras for third parties under contract.

Visits to CCTV

The centre does allow group visits but these are by appointment only. For more information contact 01325 388355.