You're being watched by 500 CCTV cameras

Councils in the Black Country are keeping watch with almost 500 of their own CCTV cameras, the latest figures reveal today.

People in Wolverhampton are watched the most, with the city council having 167 lenses focused on the streets and 80 inside its own buildings.

Walsall Council owns and operates 120 cameras, Dudley 81 and Sandwell 37. A total of 485 council cameras are in use in the whole of the Black Country, recording town centres, shopping areas and car parks.

As well as their own 81 cameras, council staff in Dudley also have access to another 51 belonging to separate organisations.

Spokeswoman Katherine Finney said: "There are 81 Dudley Council owned and operated CCTV cameras in the borough. The majority of these are public space cameras. Others cover areas such as public car parks.

"There are a further 51 cameras monitored by the council on behalf of others, including 30 on behalf of Centro, 15 Wolverhampton Urban Traffic cameras and six on behalf of the Castlegate retail/leisure park.

"Cameras are pro-actively monitored and recorded at the borough CCTV control room."

Walsall Council has 100 fixed cameras and a further 20 mobile CCTV units that can be sent out to monitor "hotspot areas". Bosses said they used the cameras to combat crime and anti-social behaviour on the streets.

Sandwell has the fewest number of CCTV cameras in the Black Country. The borough council has 30 in operation in West Bromwich and Greets Green and seven more in Wednesbury, centered around Morrisons.

However, Sandwell was selected as one of only 20 areas in the country — and the only one in the Black Country — to receive talking cameras. A £23,000 scheme operates over seven cameras in West Bromwich town centre, allowing staff to warn people about anti-social behaviour and littering.

Police argue that CCTV is a vital crime-fighting tool but critics say over-use of cameras is an infringement of civil liberties.

West Midlands Police was forced to scrap a network of CCTV cameras in the Birmingham area, some of which were to designed to fight terrorism, after they failed to consult residents.