A councillor is asking why more information wasn’t released to the public about cameras which have been watching roads and tracking motorists all around Stevenage.

The cameras are collecting data which will be used by Herts County Council, Stevenage Borough Council and the Herts Local Enterprise Partnership in future development and traffic management projects in the town.

They were placed there by transport planning consultancy firm AECOM and use automatic number plate recognition technology to monitor motorists’ movements around the town.

Councillor Robin Parker represents Chells at Herts County Council and leads the Lib Dems at Stevenage Borough Council.

He said: “They have failed completely to keep people informed.

“They did not tell the public what these cameras were for and did not even tell me as a county councillor.

“In future people need to be informed when the council are going to put anything on the highway because if not they are quite rightly going to ask.”

The cameras were used along with traffic sensors in a week-long trial that has now finished.

Stevenage Borough Council and the Herts LEP – a partnership of local businesses, education providers and not-for-profit organisations – will use the data collected in their plans to redevelop the town centre.

Herts County Council will use it to look at ways of improving traffic flow in Stevenage and how to better connect it with other towns.

A spokesman for the county council said: “The cameras and sensors are surveying traffic to give us an up to date understanding of travel patterns within Stevenage.

“This will then help us to look at future options to improve links around the town centre and the wider highway network.”