Big Brother is watching: Over 1,000 CCTV cameras watching people in the Black Country

A total of 706 of those are in Sandwell, compared to 208 in Wolverhampton, 124 in Walsall and just 90 in Dudley.

Bosses have defended the use of the cameras, insisting they are vital to catch criminals and crack down on offences like fly-tipping. But campaigners say there is little evidence that CCTV works in cutting crime.

Alex Deane, director of campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: "Local councils are creating enormous networks of CCTV surveillance at great expense, but the evidence for the ability of CCTV to deter or solve crimes is sketchy at best.

"The quality of footage is frequently too poor to be used in courts, the cameras are often turned off to save money and control rooms are rarely manned 24 hours a day.

"With crime on the increase, it is understandable that some people want more CCTV, but we would all feel safer with more police on the beat, there would be fewer crimes and those crimes that do occur would be solved faster."

A total of 119 arrests were made using CCTV evidence in Sandwell in 2014/15 - nearly three times the amount in 2011/12. And last year, the control room detected 2,627 incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour, with a further 1,773 incidents passed on to other parts of the council or partner agencies such as West Midlands Police.

Some of Sandwell's cameras are monitored in the council's control room, while others are recording but are not continually checked.

Sandwell Council argues its figures are higher because it runs CCTV on housing estates.

Some 371 cameras are based at estates in the borough, with the rest on roads and at sites like cemeteries and the council house.

Eleven of Dudley's 90 cameras are in Stourbridge's Foster Street subway, while Wolverhampton has 76 for 'urban traffic management' to help relieve congestion at peak times. Those are based on main routes including the ring road, Penn Road, Snow Hill and the Chapel Ash island.

Sandwell Council leader, Councillor Darren Cooper, said: "Our close-circuit television system is designed to make Sandwell a safer and more welcoming place for residents and visitors alike.

"The number of cameras monitored from our CCTV central control room is around 450, the majority of these, around 375, focus on our high-rise estates and also control door entry for more than 2,000 flats - with a further 75 being public space cameras covering town centres.

"A further 250 cameras are in locations such as local centres libraries, crematoria, care centres and other council offices for the protection and safety of staff and visitors, these are managed and maintained locally."

West Midlands Police was forced to scrap a network of CCTV cameras in the Birmingham area four years ago, some of which were to designed to fight terrorism, after it failed to consult residents.