LIVE footage of the Tour de France will be streamed directly to the emergency services thanks to a North Yorkshire-based video specialist.

The technology, created by Vemotion in Thirsk, is also set to be used at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland this summer.

For the first time on the Tour, police forces and local authorities will be able to share real time live footage securely from a number of camera deployments along the Yorkshire route of le Grand Depart.

Clients like the UK Police and the French Gendarmerie use Vemotion's compression technology due to its ability to supply quality images across a low band width, via Vemotion’s secure server.

Stewart McCone, managing director of Vemotion, said: "We have powered live video streaming from the lead vehicle in the Tour de France to the control room in Paris in previous years.

"While it will be nice working closer to home, it’s all in a day’s work for us, really.

"We are proud to be playing such a key ‘behind the scenes’ role in the Tour and contributing to the success of the UK Stages."

The technology is used regularly during sporting events to enhance the role of CCTV to help security and emergency services ensure athlete and spectator safety.

Mr McCone added: "People outside the industry tend to think this sort of technology has existed for many years, when in reality it is a relatively recent innovation.

"This is why we have so many clients in policing and security, with many interested in hearing how we do it.

"CCTV is not new. Mobile cameras and fixed cameras with live streaming is not new, but our combination of abilities to produce high quality streaming images over low bandwidth at relatively low cost, while offering at the same time a live ‘secure share’ facility to security partners, certainly is.”

The British Transport Police in Scotland have confirmed they too will be using Vemotion equipment this summer, in an overt surveillance capacity as a key part of their security for the Commonwealth Games.

The Police in Scotland will be streaming live images back from the field to the command and control centre.