A TROUBLED estate in Great Lever will receive more than £200,000 to kick vandals, hooligans and thieves out of the area.

As revealed in the BEN last month, Paulhan Street and Dunbar Drive have been awarded the money to install CCTV cameras.

Chorley Old Road, near the Oxford Grove shopping precinct, has also received £23,650 from the Home Office.

People in Paulhan Street neighbourhood have suffered in recent years.

The £210,650 it has been awarded will go towards placing cameras at strategic points to deter Crime.

The CCTV scheme at the Chorley Old Road site will focus on small local shops, specialised retail outlets and terraced housing and hot spots such as bus stops, car parks and shopping centre. The money has been granted to tackle business crime, anti-social behaviour and youth problems. The packages are part of £6.5m worth of schemes announced by the Home Office in Greater Manchester today.

David Smith, North-west Crime Reduction Director, said: "It is the fear of crime which can affect the quality of life for residents. The new schemes will tackle that."

Home Office Minister John Denham, who has overall responsibility for crime reduction, said CCtv had repeatedly proven its effectiveness in the fight against crime.

He added: "Knowing there is an extra set of eyes watching over their communities helps to reassure people that they will be safe.

"It also acts as another set of eyes for the police, providing valuable evidence where incidents occur."

A similar scheme at the nearby Mancroft estate has already resulted in a drop in crime.

Eileen Barlow, chairman of the Sunnyside Residents and Tenants Association, has already described the news of the CCtv grant as 'brilliant'.

The group has done a lot of work to improve the area and the estate is also set to receive £2m as part of a pilot Government scheme to improve declining neighbourhoods.

Leigh town centre is also to receive £315,000 to buy cameras and Radcliffe will benefit from a grant of £334,615.