The ANPR system is equipped with the details of vehicles known to be been stolen, used in crime or used anti-socially, as well as those that are uninsured. Hertfordshire Police insist that the cameras are not used for speed enforcement.

The scheme is worked in concuntion with Hertfordshire Police and St Albans District Council who won a substantial grant from the Home Office in early 2005.

Chief Superintendent Alison Roome-Gifford said: "The live use of ANPR in cameras around St Albans is part of a determined approach by St Albans District Council and local police to deny criminals the use of the road.

"It is a demonstration of how we can do more to identify and arrest criminals who are using vehicles to travel around the area and thereby make St Albans city and district a safer place to live, work and visit."

The CCTV control room in St Albans is linked directly to police headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, so that ANPR and CCTV can be monitored simultaneously.