The latest batch of closed-circuit TV cameras for Bradford closes up what is effectively a "ring of steel" around the city. These are the latest hi-tech cameras which can zoom in on individual car number plates and immediately allow officers to cross-reference vehicle registrations with their files and reports of other incidents elsewhere in the district.

Crooks trying to flee Bradford and disappear on the motorway network will find that they can be pulled up even before they leave the city limits, and criminals on their way into Bradford planning to get up to no good can be stopped in their tracks.

Of course, with every new announcement that CCTV cameras are in use come fears about civil liberties and the fact that decent, normal, law-abiding citizens will also find themselves monitored along with the crooks and thugs.

Although, in an ideal world, none of us would be subjected to unasked-for filming or photographing, the costs of this must be weighed up against the value of the cameras in the battle to stem the rising tide of crime.

Not only will footage from the cameras provide evidence in prosecutions and bringing the criminals to book, they will also hopefully act as a deterrent against any would-be crooks.

Anything that helps to build confidence in neighbourhoods worried about crime can only be a good thing, and if the knock-on effects are safer streets, more active communities and, ultimately, growth and regeneration as businesses are attracted to the area, then there can really be few objections against these "eyes in the sky".