There are well-aired views on the merits and demerits of CCTV, with its advocates claiming it reduces crime while its detractors say living under round-the-clock surveillance is too high a price to pay for a safer society.

What can sometimes seem an academic debate is anything but on the streets of Shipley, however, with virtually every trader on Westgate suffering from some sort of crime in the past few months. With offences including card theft, a till snatch, vandalism and burglary, the debate there seems to be over and traders have come down heavily on the side of the cameras.

So much so that they are now prepared to put their hands into their pockets and fund their own CCTV cameras to complement those of Bradford Council. The traders say that the problem is the Council camera at the top of the street always seems to be pointing in the wrong direction. And providing any new cameras are clearly visible, the police have no objection to the proposal.

It is not just in tackling shop crime that CCTV can prove effective. Cameras can help transform no-go streets into non-threatening thoroughfares, making muggers or worse think again and helping bring such attackers to justice when they do strike.

That the traders seem prepared to put their own cash into such a scheme makes their endeavours all the more worthy of praise and it is to be hoped they will be facilitated at every turn by the decision-makers.