In Staines, Middlesex, Two Rivers retail park is part of Shop Safe - a communications network that links the retail park with high street retailers, the Elmsleigh Centre, the police and a CCTV company based in Addlestone, which looks after the rest of the town and other surrounding towns, such as Egham.

Steve Barlow, site manager for Reliance Security Services at Two Rivers, says: "We're able to speak to the majority of retailers directly and if a single shop has an issue then the whole town gets to know about it immediately.

"If it's within Two Rivers then I deal with it in the first instance, but if the incident goes outside Two Rivers then the CCTV rooms at Addlestone and the Elmsleigh Centre continue to monitor the problem. The police will assist if need be.

"It's a great system and it certainly works. We've had incidents at Two Rivers where there's been a theft from a shop and they've left the site, gone through the Elmsleigh Centre and then got on a bus to Hounslow: and we've been able to follow them via the Shop Safe network.

Barlow explains that the radio system also helps security officers to quickly overcome problems in and around the scheme. He refers to one example in the past when there was a problem with travellers.

"They basically block the roads with their vehicles and there was one incident when, having asked these people to move, one got aggressive towards me. Because I had a Shop Safe radio in my hand all the shops and security officers knew what was going on and the police were there in two minutes."

This collaboration in the town hasn't gone unnoticed. Staines' Staisafe Crime Reduction Partnership has been successful in its submission to, and assessment for, the Home Office-recognised Safer Business Award. The partnership has been rewarded for effectively managing crime and antisocial behaviour in the area by sharing information, using radios, utilising information technology and introducing an exclusion notice scheme, specifically targeting the most prolific and persistent offenders.

Flexibility is the secret

MobileWorks has introduced a new product to the market in the shape of Sentinel Flexi. This retail security and communications system works over an IP network, either wired or wireless, and is designed to maintain contact between the control room, security staff and tenants on the ground. The Maestro system is also designed to link together a whole town centre, including the police station.

"The shopping centre has a touch terminal in each of its retail units on which people will be able to see documentation and sales figures if desired," says MobileWorks director Bill Ives. "But most importantly the shopping centre can send centralised alerts to everyone. For example, say they're experiencing shoplifting - the whole centre can be alerted to what's going on, quickly and easily."

The system consists of non-portable touch terminal devices close to point of sale and a handheld device for on the move, which also includes a red button that can alert a central control room to a problem.

"An alert must then be acknowledged," says Ives. "So the wearer gets a vibration to say their signal has been received. We can also track people. It's slightly more expensive to do, but there's a wireless network that allows for it."

The system is set to go live in December at Stop24 - a new, unique shopping centre at junction 20 of the M11 - and Ives is currently talking to various shopping centres including St Enoch and Buchanan Galleries, both in Glasgow.

From a security point of view, some shopping centres are looking to install automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) in their underground service yards.

Ives explains that with the MobileWorks system, retailers enter in the number of the delivery truck they are expecting and then put in a driver number or a pin code, which automatically goes to the CCTV and ANPR system. "When the truck comes the driver will be asked for a pin code and the gate will automatically open. The system then sends a message to the retailer to say the vehicle has arrived."

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