A HI-TECH Chippenham company is in the front line fighting street crime with a revolutionary new surveillance system.

Securicor, based at Methuen Park, has created a sophisticated new system, combining cutting-edge facial recognition technology with CCTV networks.

The new system holds a record of the faces of fugitives and criminal suspects and can pick them out from a crowd.

Drug dealers, football hooligans and other police suspects on a police database can be identified on camera so CCTV operators can then alert the police.

The new £2 million system with a borough-wide network of CCTV cameras has already been installed by Tameside Council.

Trained staff operate the system from a dedicated CCTV control room, manned around the clock and in constant contact with the police.

Once a suspect is recognised by the facial biometric software, the staff contact the police on a dedicated hotline, so they can investigate or apprehend the individual.

"Facial biometrics is a very exciting tool in the fight against crime," said Drew Paterson, digital security marketing manager.

"We are delighted that Tameside Council have implemented our software and are confident that it will deter criminals and help reduce crime and disorder in the borough."

The ground-breaking surveillance system was first conceived 18 months ago, and it was developed by a three-strong team headed by Chris Loynes in the Chippenham office.

It uses FaceIt facial recognition software developed by the Visionics Corporation.

The system scans a camera image for a face seeking an oval shape and then pinpointing the eyes.

Then the software identifies up to 27 points on the top half of the face to create a personal map for every individual.

Because it maps the eye region the map is unaffected by changes in age, facial hair, or hairstyle.

Securicor incorporated the facial recognition technology into the CCTV surveillance application.

The police supplies the CCTV operators with a database of pictures of suspects each identified with a code number.

The system considers all the faces it sees through a CCTV camera and works out if any of them match the faces on the database.

Data protection laws mean the images of innocent passers-by are not stored but drop off the system after they have been checked.

The CCTV operators will only know the code number associated with the face so they will not have access to confidential police information about the identity or crimes an individual is suspected of.

The surveillance system has already been used to tackle football hooliganism, at the FA Charity Shield Match between Liverpool and Manchester United, held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The system was used with the existing CCTV cameras and with mobile cameras used by the police, allowing officers to keep an eye on larger crowds.

"If the system was adopted in Chippenham, for example, the police could use a database of pictures of known active autocrime offenders, and the town CCTV would search for them," said Mr Loynes.

"There is a lot of interest in this system, and a commitment by the Government to tackle street crime and street robbery."

The Chippenham company is at the forefront of a brave new world of biometric security using an individual's facial map, iris, fingerprint or even personal odour for identification.

Already President George W Bush's new border security reforms mean biometric identifiers will be needed on passports and visas for people entering the USA by October 2003.

Mr Loynes predicted shops and supermarkets could soon have facial recognition surveillance systems in place to pick out offenders, and ultimately mobile cameras could be connected over the Internet.

Biometrics could be used on future Entitlement cards used to check residence or benefit claims.

But Mr Loynes did not believe the new developments were leading the country into an Orwellian nightmare of Big Brother surveillance and social control.

"This system only works in a restricted area, such as a town centre, or a car park," he said.

The new technology is intended to combat security threats to people and their material and intellectual assets.

"Biometrics is about how you can protect your identity," he said.

The company employs 450 people in the Chippenham office, including contractors.

Many live locally, though some commute from Bristol and Bath, and from as far afield as South Wales.

The company began life in 1985 as Dowty Plc, which was acquired by TI Plc in 1992, later becoming Cray Electronics and Dopra before the company was bought by Securicor in 1996.

ssingleton@newswilts.co.uk