A SURVEILLANCE camera which captured this picture of Steve Wright provided crucial evidence in snaring the serial killer - and there could soon be more on Suffolk's roads.

A SURVEILLANCE camera which captured this picture of Steve Wright provided crucial evidence in snaring the serial killer - and there could soon be more on Suffolk's roads.

The Suffolk police automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera helped prosecutors prove the forklift driver was lying when he said he had nothing to do with the deaths of five sex workers.

The camera captured Wright driving his Ford Mondeo out of town along London Road on the nights 19-year-old Tania Nicol and pregnant 24-year-old Anneli Alderton disappeared.

The images were shown at Ipswich Crown Court to the jury which would later convict him of five counts of murder.

The case is another example of how ANPR technology has proved its worth in modern policing, Suffolk police said today.

The camera records the number plates of vehicles, helping police pinpoint the movements of individual cars.

Similar cameras are used within some of the force's vehicles which operate as mobile ANPR units.

Suffolk police today steered away from saying whether it felt the effectiveness of the camera had been reduced now that its location was publicly known.

Ian Brill, Suffolk police's ANPR manager, said: “Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) has repeatedly proven its worth as an effective tool to deprive criminals the use of the county's roads.

“ANPR technology is not limited to fixed sites but is also present in a number of police vehicles, which can be rapidly deployed to any location in the county.

“The London Road camera site is one of many in Suffolk. We are continuing with a programme to install more fixed cameras and to enhance the ANPR capability within the county.

“The siting, numbers and efficiency of fixed cameras is regularly reviewed to ensure that the technology achieves the best possible results.”

Wright, 49, was found guilty on February 21 of the murders of Miss Nicol, Miss Alderton and fellow sex workers Annette Nicholls, 29, Paula Clennell, 24, and Gemma Adams, 25.

The former QE2 steward and publican killed the women after picking them up from the streets of Ipswich's red-light district between October 30, 2006 and December 12 that year.

Do you think ANPR cameras should be used more extensively? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk