Six of Bridlington's network of 32 CCTV cameras were fitted with loudspeakers last July as part of a pilot scheme to target a range of offences, from violence to criminal damage and litter dropping.

Police and community safety officials say they are proving a success as council chiefs prepare to consider a report into their effectiveness.

Insp Steve Jackson of Humberside Police, head of neighbourhood policing in Bridlington, said: "We have had a very successful CCTV system in Bridlington for 10 years and it's another tool that bolts onto that.

"One example is that one night they picked up a group of lads pushing each other against windows and after they were spoken to the lads stopped. They started again but by then a couple of police officers had got there and dealt with them. We could have had one of the lads pushed through a window.

"It gives us a bit of time to get officers down to an incident like that. It's not something we use every minute of the day, but when it is used it's used to good effect and I certainly wouldn't be without it."

Insp Jackson said cameras which can be used to confront offenders do make a difference.

He said: "You can say people have come a bit blasé about CCTV cameras, almost forgetting they are there. But if a camera talks to someone when they step out of line you can see they are surprised.

"There's the embarrassment factor as well. If you ask someone to pick up litter and go and put it in a bin, everyone else in the street has heard it as well. We are quite confident it is helping to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour."

The areas covered by the talking cameras were known hotspots of criminal behaviour and include Queen Street, Prince Street, Promenade, Esplanade and Garrison Street.

The speakers are connected to the CCTV control room where trained operators can talk to people in those areas in an attempt to stop incidents happening or prevent them escalating.

Max Hough, crime and disorder reduction manager at East Riding Council, said the cameras were effective, although it was hard to evaluate their exact impact.

"We are very pleased with the way it's working," he said.

"The thing to remember about talking CCTV cameras is it doesn't operate in isolation. They are one part of what we are doing. The difficult thing to do is to attribute one intervention or aspect of that on crime reduction, but it's certainly helped. Overall my impression is that it has been a success."

Mr Hough said he did not accept that Bridlington's talking cameras were a further step to what critics call a surveillance society.

He said: "There are mixed views of course and it's fair enough to have a debate. I wouldn't want it to be used with impunity, but I don't think when people talk about Big Brother that it really applies to Bridlington."

Mr Hough said the cameras could also be used to help find missing children and have a role in emergency planning.

In 2006, 24 per cent of all violent crimes and 19 per cent of all criminal damage in the East Riding took place in Bridlington. Comparable figures for 2007 were not available.