Street crime drives shoppers to the internet

Fear of crime is a key factor for why more and more people are shopping online than on the high street.

The finding from a straw poll in south-east England by Telindus highlighted that very few people believe CCTV deters criminal activity.

Nearly half said they worry about pick-pockets or being mugged while almost a quarter of those surveyed said they now prefer to shop online rather than brave the high street.

The results fly in the face of the recent British crime survey which found that crime rates had dropped by more than 10 per cent for the year up until June 2006.

Almost 60 per cent of those surveyed claimed CCTV cameras have failed to alleviate street crime, mainly because most criminals know their locations and the quality of footage is too poor to be used in court.

Mark Hutchinson, UK managing director at Telindus, said: “The concerns identified in this study highlight the fact that many businesses are still relying on fixed CCTV technology.

“With innovative technologies such as IP CCTV, poor-quality images and fixed camera locations are no longer an issue.”

The poll found that although the UK has one CCTV camera per 12 people, only one in five people thought there were too many in use. However, most people have no idea how many times a day they are filmed.

Around half the survey thought they might be filmed a maximum of 50 times a day whereas, in reality, the average Londoner is caught on camera 300 times each day.

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