The “silent guardians” of south Bucks have been hailed for their “diligence and hard work” in keeping things running smoothly across the county.

While CCTV operators from Wycombe District Council (WDC) may not be physically present at the scene, they have provided “vital information” to emergency services that has helped to save lives, prevent crime and bring criminals to justice, the council has said.

Also according to WDC, the CCTV was the “heartbeat” of the Thames Valley Police in recent weeks, ensuring the EDL protest in High Wycombe in April passed without incident. On another occasion, operators pieced together hours of footage which helped to secure the conviction of three people for the murder of Lee Gillespie.

The council said police called on the services of CCTV operators almost 6,000 times last year, resulting in 440 arrests or fixed penalty notices being handed out, not including the “pro-active work” that takes place in the control room.

The team, which simultaneously monitors hundreds of cameras across south Bucks, also put together 377 evidence packs for use in the courts in 2015, and assists other emergency services such as guiding paramedics to people in need of assistance.

Chinda Virdee, CCTV operations manager, said: “We are very proud of our work – we are the silent guardians of south Buckinghamshire.

“We never know what will happen on any is given day or night, which makes the job exciting. But what a lot of people do not realise is we have a small team monitoring hundreds of cameras – so we have to be alert and ready to respond.

“We would obviously prefer to have no trouble and arrests are relatively low – we like to think that is because of the CCTV presence, and people know we are watching and they will not get away with any criminal activity in our towns.”

According to a recent Daily Telegraph survey, High Wycombe, home to Bucks New University, is the second safest town for students in England.