Ludlow Town Centre Upgrades its CCTV System

THE first part of Ludlow Town Centre’s project to upgrade their ageing CCTV System to a modern wireless system has now been completed. Using HD cameras with a 360 degree viewing angle, Ludlow town centre now boasts one of the most technologically advanced town centre CCTV systems in the country.

Ludlow, the South Shropshire medieval market town, is host to many architecturally distinguished buildings. The Ludlow Town Council team behind the upgrade, lead by town clerk Gina Wilding, were keen to minimise the impact caused to the look of the visually striking town centre, but equally wanted a CCTV system that protected both visitors and residents of the town. To this end, they asked Chris Marlow, director at O.R.P Surveillance, a local Shropshire-based CCTV installation company, to design a system which utilised the most modern and up to date features of a CCTV system, whilst also taking into account wanting minimal impact on the historical town. Working to Ludlow’s brief, Chris designed a secure and encrypted wireless system to negate the need for intrusive cable-routing, and used existing camera brackets so that no disruption was caused to buildings.

About the project, Chris said “this initially challenging brief was a pleasure to design – not least because it meant visiting the beautiful town of Ludlow on so many occasions – it utilises the best that surveillance cameras have to offer, using 8 megapixel images on a range of fixed and movable cameras, for clear images night and day, whilst fitting in with the town’s pleasing aesthetic. It is good to know that it will give peace of mind to both the locals and tourists of Ludlow.

He continued by saying, “now that the first phase of Ludlow’s CCTV upgrade has been completed, I am looking forward to continuing to work with everyone at Ludlow town council as we move on to designing the second phase.”

Working to install the system in 2020 involved further challenges than a usual town centre CCTV system installation, due to the increased restrictions necessitated by COVID-19. O.R.P’s team of engineer’s worked to Shropshire Council’s guidance on this, and were able to complete the installation within 14 days.

Gina Wilding, Ludlow town Clerk, thanked O.R.P Surveillance for their work. She is looking forward to working with them as they expand the town centre system further in the coming months. To them she said “thank you for successfully completing the install of Phase I of the CCTV in Ludlow...we look forward to working with you on Phase II.”

Phase two would see the initial upgrade extended to cover more of Ludlow. The initial design of this will begin next week, with installation set for the new year.