A new CCTV camera which will improve public safety along Sandy Bay on the Exmouth coastline, has been installed between Orcombe Point and Sandy Bay.

National Coastwatch Institution Exmouth has been working with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and are grateful to them for supporting and enabling the installation.

The camera has been installed on a disused MOD watch tower and will offer a clear vision along the coast from the Straight Point firing range to Orcombe Point towards the west, allowing NCI watchkeepers to keep a visual watch on the area seven days a week in support of HM Coastguard (HMCG) who are the first point of contact in the event of a marine incident in the area.

This area along Sandy Bay is one of several points not visible to NCI watchkeepers and, with the increase in boat use and visitor numbers along the coastline, it is important that the area is visible so that watchkeepers can assist His Majesty's Coast Guard (HMCG) as necessary.

The camera at Straight Point, which cost in the region of £10,000, is the last of four to be positioned along the East Devon coastline and the trickiest to install.

It is positioned on a disused MoD Watch Tower, the electrical power coming from a nearby Troop Shelter which required 140 metres of trenching to bring power from this nearby accommodation block.

Major (Retd) Rich Carter, the DIO’s Training Safety Officer for Straight Point, said: “We are delighted to have been able to support the NCI with the installation of this camera at Straight Point.

"It fixes the ‘blind spot’ across Sandy Bay and Orcombe Point enabling the watchkeepers to do their job more effectively and improves public safety in the area for the local community and visitors.

“The old Watch Tower was no longer required to monitor the Sea Danger Area since the ranges were re-configured to face East back in the 1990s.

"The NCI camera has given the old tower a new purpose and once again it stands as a sentry to help keep people safe.”

A spokesman for NCI Exmouth said: “This area is renowned for cliff falls and people are often trapped by the incoming tides around Orcombe Point.

"This new camera is of huge benefit to us as it now enables us to assist HMCG with resolving incidents, both beach and water based, in the area which we were previously unable to do.

"We are grateful for the support that the DIO and the local community of Millbrook Village in Exeter who raised most of the funds for us to get this project off the ground and seeing it through to completion.

"It has been a real team effort and we believe that it will help to reduce the numbers of serious incidents in the area.”

The first three NCI CCTV cameras were installed on Sideshore, the water sports centre on the Exmouth Sea front, the second on the Exe Sailing Club, which covers 85% of the river Exe estuary from the Duck Pond to Topsham, and the third on the seaside of the Budleigh Salterton Club, which covers the whole of Budleigh Salterton bay.

All four cameras operate during watch hours 365 days a year, and watchkeepers are now able to monitor the beaches and inshore waters from the town of Topsham at the head of the Exe estuary along the coast to the mouth of the river Otter to the east of Budleigh Salterton.

The Straight Point camera is one of several initiatives designed to ensure the public stay safe and protected. The Sea Danger Area (SDA) is closed when live firing takes place, and the area is patrolled by a dedicated Range Safety Craft. When open, the SDA may be accessed, however, there is no access for the public at any time into Straight Point Range Complex. www.exmouthcoastwatch.co.uk