Ledbury Town Council has agreed funding to help connect its CCTV cameras to the central control room at Hereford.

The move will mean that cameras will be actively monitored, rather than simply recording as an aid to investigation or for evidence.

The town has agreed to provide £5,510 towards the total cost of almost £56,000, after pressure from Herefordshire Council.

Herefordshire said that in the mid-1990s, Leominster pitched in with £14,000 towards its connection and Ross gave £2,000.

At a town council meeting last week, Coun Clive Jupp said: "It annoyed me, because reading between the lines it says we must stump up because other towns have done their bit. As a council, we have already spent £32,000 on CCTV, excluding maintenance."

Town clerk June McQuaid said: "As a council we actually provided all the cameras in Ledbury, without the help of anyone."

The town council agreed to provide the money, but also to point out its past expenditure on Ledbury's CCTV system. Other money for the connection will come from the Market Towns Initiative and the police.