The police and Erewash Borough Council are to launch a joint bid for the �275,000 needed for the system.

It is hoped that the CCTV would be fitted with the Automatic Number Plate Recognition system (ANPR).

There have been over 220 car thefts in the area this year, compared with 553 in the whole of 2003.

Long Eaton would be the first town in the county to have the ANPR system, which would also improve security for hotels and businesses near the M1.

Police and council are also considering moving Ilkeston's CCTV monitoring to Long Eaton to share in the new technology, although this would increase the cost of improvements to �500,000.