FIGURES released by Dorset Police show a substantial increase in usage of Bournemouth’s CCTV network last month compared with the previous year.

The data for August shows the total number of incidents dealt with by CCTV operators was 1317, up 276 on 2012, of which 888 came from requests by police, Shopwatch and Pubwatch schemes, and 429 incidents were self-generated by operators.

There were 73 police calls by CCTV staff resulting in an arrest, compared with 41 last year, and 153 people were charged or otherwise processed using CCTV evidence, up from 124.

Cllr David Smith, cabinet member for planning and environment, said: “These are excellent figures for what has been a very busy month, with the hot weather attracting lots of extra people into the town.

“The trend for crime in the town is that it is decreasing, although more people being here does mean more incidents, but the figures show that more incidents are being detected thanks to the hard work and training of our dedicated CCTV staff. They are getting better at spotting incidents and more experienced as time goes on.

“CCTV evidence has shortened many police investigations and been very useful in the major murder trials of the last three or four years, which is why we will continue to invest in it.”

Offences recorded by the cameras, including 76 incidents caught by the town’s six mobile cameras, ranged from assault and possession of an offensive weapon to indecent exposure and harassment.

In April it was revealed that the mobile cameras had detected more than 1,400 incidents since their introduction two years ago, with 354 people being arrested as a result.

Cameras were also used in prison recall, breach of bail, breach of ASBO and driving offences, and some 150 arrests were captured on film.

There were 44 offences recorded on Boscombe cameras which included all kerb crawling, plus drug possession, theft, drunkenness, public order offences, criminal damage, assault, burglary, begging and assaults on police.

Also there were 76 disc seizures for use in evidence – 55 by the police and 21 by the council.