Last year the council was successful in securing £23,000 from the Home Office's Respect Task Force to develop talking TV in South Tyneside.

This involves attaching speakers to existing CCTV cameras so operators are able to speak directly to people.

The locations targeted are King Street to the Harbour Drive Car Park in South Shields.

Initially, it was thought the CCTV would be used to tackle litter on King Street, but latest statistics reveal the system has been used most often to deter cyclists riding on pedestrianised areas.

Of the 79 requests to cyclists, 43 were adhered to and 36 were ignored.

It has also been used in one alcohol-related incident, and eight times for general anti-social behaviour.

Meanwhile, a technical problem means one of the loudspeakers at Harbour Drive is to be moved.

A report to the Riverside community area forum said: "There have been technical issues due to the location of the loudspeaker and the capacity of it to broadcast over a large, open area.

"In view of this it is proposed to relocate the loudspeaker to another town centre area, ie Mile End Road or Denmark Square."

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