Epping Forest is London’s largest open space, at approximately 6,000 acres. The forest stretches 12 miles from Manor Park in east London to just north of Epping in Essex, it is managed by the City of London Open Spaces Department, and is home to an abundance of wildlife. Part of the department’s CCTV requirement was to avoid any unnecessary light pollution that might have an adverse effect on the environment. The City of London relies on CCTV for both security and the visual management of its staff and facilities in sometimes remote and dark areas. This meant that finding a provider capable of fitting cameras with extremely low failure rates was very important.

The Basson Group is a long-standing preferred supplier for the City of London Open Spaces Department and was asked to supply all the IR cameras for the Epping Forest Office where there had been a spate of thefts involving heavy plant and farming machinery. One of the sites in the forest where this type of machinery is kept, called The Warren, has no real perimeter fence as such and is accessible to the public. During the winter months, this area is in total darkness, making it a target for local thieves aware of the high value of the equipment stored there.

In the past, the City of London had favoured using separate mains-operated illuminators that had generated both light pollution and high-energy costs. As specialist suppliers of infrared (IR) and light-enhancing CCTV cameras, the Basson Group was asked to upgrade the corporation’s hardware with a robust and affordable solution.

More than 20 static IR cameras were chosen from Basson’s range to monitor the area. In particular, the IRB2 84VHQ was preferred as these cameras are specifically designed to give bright, clear and crisp images both day and night. The IRB2 84VHQ has a central pod that houses the camera, with two further pods that contain a combined total of 84 IR LEDs. Separating the IR LEDs from the main camera body means that even if a spider builds a web across the front of the camera, the IR won’t reflect back into the camera iris, which is the case with many other IR cameras. This also prevents the night-time image from being distorted by rain droplets collecting on the front of the camera glass and the IR reflecting from the rain droplets back into the camera iris.

All of these factors played an important role in the City of London’s choice of camera supplier, as it was keen to avoid any expensive ongoing maintenance caused by having to clean the cameras regularly.

Commenting on the installation, Richard Barrell, Asset Management Officer at the City of London Epping Forest Office, said: “I would have no reservation in recommending The Basson Group to any business or Local Authority as an excellent, reactive, customer-driven supplier of CCTV cameras and equipment. In my experience, Basson’s cameras are among the best products that we have ever used at the City of London’s many sites.”