The electronic devices, which will be fitted in premises on Branch Road in Armley, enable shops to send out warning signals to each other in the event of a suspected incident or if there is a threat to personal safety.

Leeds City Council's Inner West Area Committee has allocated £6,000 from its Wellbeing Fund to pay for the boxes.

Coun Janet Harper (Lab, Armley), who pressed the council to secure the funding, said: "It is great news for this popular local shopping area, especially after the great success of the pilot project.

"It is really important that both shopkeepers and customers feel safe. Although these devices will not eradicate all crime, and are certainly no substitute for the police, they are proven to create a more-secure environment.

"One of the most effective measures to tackle crime is to create a sense of community and to increase communication within that community.
This is the major benefit of alert boxes and I hope that they will make Armley a safer place to shop."

The latest initiative follows a successful pilot scheme on Town Street earlier this year, where 30 alert boxes were fitted, resulting in a drop in anti-social behaviour and an improved sense of security among shopkeepers.

Through the Shopwatch scheme, boxes are fixed to a wall behind shop counters allowing warnings to be broadcast to other members, while shop owners can also call for immediate assistance from other stores.

A digital display along with an audible alarm alerts other businesses to the nature of the threat, the address of where the alert came from and their phone number.

In Morley, more than 30 traders are also connected by radio as part of the town's Shopwatch scheme, allowing the stores to share information with the Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) and alert each other to suspicious people in their shops.

The Shopwatch scheme has run in Morley for a number of years but was relaunched earlier this year to ensure traders and the NPT continue their close work together.