A mobile CCTV which allows the police and local authority to keep an eye on Largs town centre on weekends, and catch speeders along stretches of the A78 continues to help deter crime, councillors have been told.

North Ayrshire Council’s scrutiny committee heard about the impact of North Ayrshire CCTV Ltd - which is supported by the council - over the last 12 months.

There are currently three fixed CCTV cameras in Largs town centre. The company’s mobile CCTV unit - which can provide an additional three cameras - also pays regular visits to the town to support police patrols on busy weekends to deter anti-social behaviour.

A report to the council’s scrutiny committee stated that all 45 cameras across North Ayrshire were recorded 24 hours a day, and were monitored from Saltcoats police office 21 hours a day. The operating costs are approximately £240,000 per year and the company employs seven full-time and one part-time member of staff.

Monitoring and recording during the period to March 31 2014 resulted in the following statistics (figures for 2012/13 shown in brackets): A total of 3,227 incidents were logged by the fixed cameras between April 2013 and March 2014 - up from 3151 the previous year.

Over the same period, the number of incidents logged by the mobile unit was up to 475 from 339 the previous year.

Of those incidents recorded on fixed cameras, 368 people were arrested or reported to the Procurator Fiscal - down from 454 in 2012/13. The figures for the mobile unit dropped from 36 from 39.

The use of the mobile CCTV unit is decided by the requirements of the local partnership between Police Scotland, North Ayrshire Council and other partner agencies.

The report added: “The redeployable cameras have been placed in locations where there is a recognised short-term need for surveillance. Deployment requests are initiated by Police Scotland or North Ayrshire Council’s Antisocial Behaviour Investigation Team.

Craig Hatton, executive director (place) at NAC, told councillors: “CCTV systems continue to be viewed both as a crime deterrent and an aid in the detection of crime.

“Principal funding for the CCTV Company is provided by North Ayrshire Council. Future funding from Police Scotland will be dependant on the results of a current review of public space CCTV across Scotland.

“Whilst the review is still ongoing, there is an indication that funding will remain unchanged in the short term.

“The work of North Ayrshire CCTV Ltd continues to contribute to deterring and detecting crime in North Ayrshire.

“ The funding provided by the council has been used to support the ongoing work of the company.”