SECURITY guards at a Canvey visitors’ attraction are being fitted with personal CCTV cameras to ward off any potential criminals.

Leisure Island amusement park, in Eastern Esplanade, is also putting in new CCTV cameras and an upgraded alarm system after a spate of burglaries on the island.

The park manager, Scott Petty, said they have only been broken into once, four years ago, and never normally have any trouble so they would like to keep it that way.

Figures show crime on the island rose by nearly 5 per cent in the year to the end of February, with serious sexual and violent crimes among those increasing.

Mr Petty said: “It has been a reaction to recent incidents on the island. We have only had one break in before and we have not done too badly, but obviously with the crime that has been occurring it has woken us up to the dangers so we’re upgrading everything.

“The cameras will be watching all the walkways and in between the rides.

“They are to protect our staff as well as the public.”

Mr Petty said it was a coincidence this move coincided with the increase in crime on the island and was a reaction to problems experienced last summer when travellers moved illegally on to land nearby.

He added: “We had a lot of trouble with travellers last year, so we thought it would be good give our security guards personal cameras.

“The time and date is imprinted on the footage they record, so it’s admissible in court.

“We could’ve gone for a cheaper system, but there is no point having it, if it’s not high quality.

“We never normally have any trouble in the park though, but we want it to be a safe environment for the public and our staff.”