The system, which is owned and operated by the town's Chamber of Trade –Market Weighton Area Businesses Ltd – had run for more than five years and was used to detect crime and vandalism in the town centre. But the old system broke down just before Christmas.

Peter Hemmerman, chairman of MWAB, said: "We were caught out by the sudden failure having just spent almost all of our reserves on getting the Bradley Statue and its plinth in place.

"While attempting to secure funding for a new system we tried to keep the breakdown a secret from the public, to ensure it did not lead to any increase in crime or vandalism but rumours were beginning to circulate in the past few weeks.

"The police were kept fully informed of the progress on replacing the system and thankfully no serious incidents occurred during the shutdown period."

The new system was paid for by a Grassroots Grant, awarded by The York and North Yorkshire Community Foundation at Stamford Bridge, a donation from Market Weighton Community Charity Shop and Chamber funds raised by local retailers.

The new cameras are connected to the internet, meaning recordings can be checked remotely by police anywhere in the country.

Police will also be able to log on from any police computer and pan, tilt or zoom a camera onto suspicious incidents as they happen. The 11 cameras record events in the town centre 24 hours a day but police and authorised chamber officials will only monitor the feeds when an incident is reported or if they decide surveillance is required.