HEREFORDSHIRE'S CCTV cameras will transfer to county council control, but it's unlikely they'll be monitored any more closely as a result.

Council Leader Terry James says the authority 'simply can't afford' the six figure sums needed to maintain near-permanent supervision of systems currently covering Hereford, Ross-on-Wye, Ledbury, and Leominster - let alone any expansion.

The images initially fed into the control room at Hereford Central Police station, but communications demand there means staff are rarely able to offer effective observation.

Control by Herefordshire Council, which owns the cameras, is seen as the only realistic alternative, even if the watching won't be any better.

The city council has already questioned the value of the 19 cameras operating in Hereford. They cost around £27,000 to maintain - a sum included in that authority's annual precept.

If all intended schemes were implemented as many as 70 screens might need round-the-clock supervision seven days a week.

And that, says Councillor James, is out of the question in terms of cost alone, let alone health and safety guidelines operators would be working to.

"We simply can't afford to have every screen watched all the time as it is."

Even a new home for the screens is proving hard to find.

With the future of the county council's existing emergency control centre linked to the transfer of housing stock, the Shirehall has emerged as an option.