Taxi marshals now come complete with video cameras as part of security measures on Maidstone’s streets late at night.

The move sees the County Town’s two marshals, who keep order on the taxi rank in King Street on Saturday nights into Sunday mornings, equipped with body-worn cameras.

The equipment is already worn by police patrols and Maidstone Borough Council’s civil enforcement officers.

The taxi rank supervisors, who are overseen by Training Management Security (TMS) on behalf of Town Centre Management, wore the devices for the first time at the weekend.

Door staff at the Source Bar in Rose Yard, who are also managed by the company, have also adopted the additional security measure.

TMS managing director Tom Devine said: “It can only be positive. As soon as there is an incident, or potential for one, they record straight away, which helps us for evidential purposes and eradicates any chance of complaints being made against them, as they have audio too.

“It is the right way for the industry to go. We have made the investment in an attempt to eradicate complaints and ensure our staff are acting in a professional and courteous manner at all times.”

The equipment has been funded by Training Management Security and the cost will not be passed on to the town.

Police announced they were trialling the cameras with officers in October last year, although had to suspend them the following month briefly when it emerged there were problems downloading video footage.

Police say the equipment has the advantage not only of capturing evidence, particularly in domestic violence incidents, but also changing offenders’ behaviour if they know they are being filmed.