As with any business that can attract thousands of visitors each day, Paultons Park, the family theme park located just outside Southampton, wanted to ensure that it had the security systems in place to protect both itself and the property of its guests. The first stage of this programme started four years ago with a CCTV system covering its car park areas. Subsequently, this Bosch based security solution has now been rolled out to other areas across the facility which has provided many advantages to both the day to day operation and management of the Park.

Paultons Park attracts half a million visitors each year. The park covers 65 acres, with over 50 different rides and attractions plus gardens set over 10 acres, river, museums and a collection of exotic birds.

Mark Taylor, General Manager, explains: “We can receive thousands of visitors on a peak day who come to Paultons for an enjoyable day out as a family. It is therefore important that as a Park, we are able to ensure we protect their property as best we can. In addition, the CCTV system acts as a deterrent to would-be thieves and also assists us in surveying outlying areas of the Park with ease.”

Paultons initially installed two Bosch domes along with the same number of static cameras to cover the site. Due to the success of this initiative and the associated benefits, the system has gradually been extended to other areas of the Park.

“We now have 12 Bosch cameras across the site, including EnviroDomes and most recently new generation AutoDomes have been installed at a new ride.”

The Generation 4 AutoDome features Bosch’s innovative motion tracking capability AutoTrack, which not only senses movement but zooms in on the target and tracks it.

“The cameras are strategically positioned for us to monitor particular rides throughout the day,” Mark continues. “The CCTV images are digitally recorded using the Bosch Divar, with the main monitor in my office and remote access for the directors to view real-time images on their PCs.

“The system is a vital means of monitoring and managing queue times and helping us with the day-to-day operations of the park by identifying where additional staff support is required, which is very important from a health and safety perspective. Similarly in the car park, we are able to quickly identify and deal with congested areas so that visitors can park as quickly as possible. The cameras also allow us to monitor visitor behaviour and follow anyone who is misbehaving or acting suspiciously.”

The Bosch Divar digital recorder is compact and unobtrusive combining flexible digital recording and multiplexing, which not only saves space but also ensures integrated functionality. The Divar allows simultaneous recording and playback of video images, and an ‘overwrite protection’ feature of marked video clips prevents the loss of evidential material.

The CCTV system currently covers the car park and the key areas within the theme park but there are ambitions to extend the camera network: “The flexibility of Bosch’s recording technology allows us to add cameras gradually, as and when we build new rides. Once it is installed the technology is very reliable which is very important to us. The Bosch technology has proved to be a good investment and Bosch’s three year warranty gives us peace of mind,” Mark concludes.

Email: imcintyre@aga.co.uk