WHAT good news it is that City of York Council is planning to spend more than £200,000 in bringing York's CCTV network bang up to date.

The investment will include new control equipment and the use of digital technology, which would record pictures of a much higher quality. So no longer would so much of the crime in the city be carried out by members of the fuzzy blob gang.

A new computerised system of CCTV cameras, if introduced, would produce high-definition images which could be used as evidence in court.

The present analogue equipment, some of which dates back more than 15 years, would be replaced by a modern computerised system. Thanks to digital technology, it would also be easier to locate the cheaper wireless cameras in awkward places.

All of this is a massive step forward from where York was a year ago when this newspaper revealed that a large number of cameras in the city centre were faulty, with as many as 18 failing to work properly.

Technology has raced ahead in the years since CCTV was first introduced into York and it is only right that the city's security system should catch up - especially considering that such digital equipment is now common place in the home.

Such advances should add to the security of residents, who will feel that criminals are more likely to be caught.

And the Evening Press will help in this process of justice by publishing the new, sharper images of people caught in the act. That way we should all feel safer.

Updated: 09:57 Monday, January 30, 2006