BIG BROTHER will be watching - and SHOUTING - at you as 'talking' CCTV is set to be piloted in Macclesfield.

Cameras fitted with loudspeakers will blast offenders and seek to comfort victims in distress if councillors have their way.

For two local representatives, who witnessed "pitch battles, urination and defecation" and other incidents on the streets from behind the cameras that survey the town, were horrified by what they saw.

As a result Councillors Howard Murray and Ainsley Arnold are demanding a mobile state-of-the-art watch-and-warn system be introduced into Macclesfield's hotspots.

During their stint in the CCTV control room they saw crimes including drunken 13-year-old teenagers attacking adults, a kebab shop brawl, and people using the public highways as toilets.

The loudspeaker system - successfully used in Salford, Middlesbrough and Bridlington in East Yorkshire - would allow CCTV operators to spot anti-social acts and shout out a verbal warning to the offenders.

It could also reassure victims of violence and crime and even comfort lost children.

Disgusted Coun Howard Murray said he couldn't sleep after his five-hour evening stint in the camera nerve centre and now fears for his daughter's safety if 'talking CCTV' isn't implemented in Macclesfield.

Speaking at a Macclesfield Borough Council Scrutiny Committee meeting, he said: "There is a level of underclass out there. There was urination, defecation, drunken 13-year-old children attacking people and a pitch fight in a kebab house.

"If my daughter was out in Macclesfield late at night I would be so much more comfortable if there was a CCTV speaker system. It is not Big Brother is watching you, it is Big Brother is looking out for you."

He added: "The police confirmed it was a quiet night but it took me until 6am to go to sleep - good luck to anyone's nervous system if they go in there on a busy night."

Coun Murray was joined for three hours in the nerve centre by Coun Ainsley Arnold who told the Scrutiny Committee of the CCTV staff's frustration.

He said: "The operators feel helpless when they see something violent happen and call the police and can't do anything in between.

"A speaker system would be a useful tool - they can say to people that they are being watched and the police have been called."

The committee have given the green light to complete a feasibility study for the project - which at the moment has no costings attached - but no nonsense Poynton councillor, Howard Murray, is confident it will get the go-ahead.

He said: "We need to have mobile, covert cameras that can go 'hither and yon' to one hotspot and on to another when the problems have been solved."

Both councillors praised the current level of communication between CCTV operators and the police stating that a squad car was on the scene "usually straight away" when they viewed the screens.

Insp Gareth Woods of Macclesfield Neighbourhood Policing Unit praised the new initiative.

He said: "Sometimes sitting in the CCTV room is like watching the TV at home so any new initiative will be beneficial and will hopefully cut down on lower level and violent crime."