TALKING surveillance cameras are to make life safer for workers at a new £14m office scheme near Southampton.

The state-of-the-art audio system is similar to one that made national headlines about "scarecrow policing" after being trialled successfully in the centre of Middlesbrough.

Business Homes, a Leeds-based developer, is having audio CCTV installed at its south coast flagship site at Whiteley.

The security equipment is thought to the first of its kind to be used at a business park in Hampshire.

Two-way loudspeakers attached to roving eye monitors at Victory Park, a 3.5-acre site on Solent Business Park, are linked to a control centre in Blackburn.

People working late can talk to the control centre and ask for the outdoor lights can be switched on.

They are then visually escorted to their cars and wished good night.

The technology was used as a deterrent at Business Homes' Nottingham site earlier this year.

Would-be thieves fled after an alerted camera boomed out in the dead of night and warned them off in no uncertain terms.

A vehicle barrier with automatic numberplate recognition technology is also being put in place.

Business Homes chairman Simon Houlston said: "We've been using high-tech security at a number of our sites across the UK for the past five years.

"This is not about Big Brother or scarecrow policing, it is about ensuring our customers and their staff feel safe at all times, and that is something you cannot put a price on.

"From what I have been told, the equipment we are putting in at Victory Park is the first of its kind at any business park in Hampshire."

According to figures, Britain has 4.2 million CCTV cameras - one for every 14 people in the country.

It has been calculated that each person is caught on camera an average of 300 times daily.

Victory Park, which began last September, is due for completion at the end of this month (MAY).

Of the 14 two-storey offices, seven have been sold, with a further two under offer.

They are sized between 1,250 sq ft and 6,000 sq ft. Business Homes has 30 similar sites under development across the UK.