Didcot traders and town councillors have welcomed confirmation that plans to install anti-crime cameras in the town are now well under way.

South Oxfordshire District Council, which has agreed to foot the £220,000 bill and pay for most of the running costs, says it expects to receive tenders for the work early in the new year.

Nine cameras will be installed in and around the Broadway area where several shop frontages and cash machines have been vandalised over the past year.

Bus stops have also been uprooted, graffiti sprayed on buildings and rubbish skips set alight in regular outbreaks of antisocial behaviour.

Traders recently voiced their frustration that the CCTV system promised by the end of the year would now not be in place until next summer.

But after learning that the formal tendering process is well under way, they expressed relief that a solution to their problems seemed to be within reach.

Spokesman Caroline White, the owner of the Print Express photo shop, said: "It pleases me to hear that things are moving at last -- shame it was not as promised before Christmas.

"Let's just have out fingers crossed that their promise is fulfilled."

A spokesman for SODC said the delay was due mainly to the size of the contract, which had forced the council to follow European procurement rules for advertising and timescales.

The following sites are being proposed for the cameras, which will all have a 360 degree scanning potential, although locations may be slightly altered before the scheme becomes operational.

Broadway, opposite Britwell Road

Broadway, opposite Newlands Avenue

Broadway, opposite St Peter's Road

Broadway opposite St Andrew's Road

Edinburgh Drive, near the SODC car park

off Edinburgh Drive to the rear of the Co-op store

Broadway, opposite Vicarage Road

Broadway, close to the NatWest bank, and opposite the junction with Mereland Road

Endinburgh Drive car park