Wireless CCTV has been added to an industrial estate, a former Second World War airfield near Stafford. Home to more than 30 industrial units, Hixon Airfield Industrial Estate had a manned guarding presence. Hixon Airfield Services, which manages the estate, approached Chubb Fire & Security UK to install CCTV to support its physical security.
Garry Burns, sales executive at Chubb, says: “We specified a sophisticated CCTV system incorporating beam detectors that alerts a security guard in the event an alarm is triggered. The guard can then visually verify the intrusion before calling for police assistance.” A reader on the estate enables a security guard to activate all of the beams across the site wirelessly using a key fob. If a beam is broken, the guard receives an alert through the computer in the guard’s lodge and can view the images from the cameras. Customers can also view the site’s camera images using an iPhone app, anywhere, any time. Garry Burns says: “Due to the size of the site, to connect each individual camera and detector to a central system using cables would have been too costly and labour intensive. Consequently, Chubb CCTV Engineer Tony Skelton designed a bespoke system ideally suited to the customer’s requirements, whereby all of the cameras and detectors are radio-linked wirelessly and transmit clear images.” Some nine cameras were installed, with six cameras and beam detectors on top of poles around the estate. There are also two static cameras installed to cover areas where blind spots had been noted. Garry Burns adds: “This design meant that we could provide an effective solution for the customer. We are also supplying a service contract, enabling Hixon Airfield Services to feel confident that help is always on hand.”
Chubb has worked with Hixon before to supply and install vehicular access control at the estate, and has done work for several of the site’s tenants. Lesley Walker of Hixon Airfield Services says: “We felt that the time was right to enhance our existing security arrangement and that CCTV was the best way forward. We thought that if we’re going to do this, we need to do it well and with an expert in the field, and Chubb’s reputation precedes it. Several of the landlords and owners on the site jointly contributed towards the cost of the system and their feedback – as well as that of the tenants – has been excellent. We have already used the CCTV on several occasions to monitor incidents and it has been a great help.”
Hixon Airfield Industrial Estate’s 31 industrial units are built on a decommissioned WWII airbase. The airbase opened in May 1942 for RAF Bomber Command, with three concrete runways to support the weight of Wellingtons, Lancasters and Bristol Blenheims; Masters, Martinets and Hurricanes were also hosted at the base. Two of the runways still exist today, as well as a hangar, the old Guardroom and the original Control Tower, which is now the offices of Hixon Airfield Services.
For more information on Chubb’s services, visit www.chubb.co.uk.
