Push-button alarms for town centre (From Prestwich and Whitefield Guide)

Push-button alarms for town centre

6:38am Wednesday 17th March 2010

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A NETWORK of panic buttons could be introduced in Bury town centre in an unprecedented move to enhance security and public safety.

And if the proposal goes ahead, the town could become the first in Greater Manchester to adopt such a measure.

The buttons, similar to intercoms, would be sited close to CCTV cameras.

Bury Council’s ruling executive has passed on the matter to its town centre management group.

The recommendation for the panic buttons are among a series of measures to ensure revellers enjoy a trouble-free night out in the town centre.

The recommendations were put forward by the local authority’s safe, strong and confident communities scrutiny commission.

Chairman, Cllr Barry Theckston said: “Colne and some other Lancashire towns already have these panic or help buttons and they usually work in conjunction with CCTV cameras.

“If anyone is harassed or whatever, they can call for help using the buttons and get through to a live person.”

At this stage, however, he was unable to say whether those manning the security system would be Bury Council security personnel or those from another agency.

Cllr Theckston added: “We have looked into this and when we’ve visited the town centre we did notice a lot of vulnerable young ladies. That’s why we came up with the idea. In the past, we’ve seen some horrific CCTV incidents of people misbehaving.

“It’s at the exploratory stage at the moment and the idea needs some further investigation.

“They can also be used as help buttons. It could be that someone visiting the town might want to know where the market is.”

Other town centre-related recommendations include the permanent introduction of taxi marshalls on Friday and Saturday nights, action to prevent congestion caused by waiting taxis around Bury Parish Church and addressing the issue of people urinating in the street.

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