FIVE “pedestrian counters” are being introduced in Malton in an effort to attract more people to the town centre, The Press has learned.

The box-shaped devices, which record the number of pedestrians walking along a pavement by capturing their movement, are being hidden away on buildings around the central shopping area.

The scheme is being funded by Ryedale District Council, Yorkshire Forward and the Fitzwilliam Malton Estates (FME), which owns commercial and residential property in and around Malton.

Roddy Bushell, estate manager at FME, said: “If the local authority makes changes to the town centre they will have evidence of the effect the change has on footfall. Without footfall counters, there is no evidence of the effect.

“The same applies to events. If the traders in the town organise an event designed to bring more people to the town centre, they will have evidence of success or otherwise, and be able to learn from that evidence what works and what does not.

“Trends in footfall are interesting to retailers and may help Malton attract new retailers to open in the town.”

The instruments are already a feature of shopping centres around the country, and are expected to remain in Malton for at least five years.

A spokesman for FME stressed that, while they were motion-sensitive, they did not film people. He was unable to state the cost of the counters.

Ian Beecham, who has two pharmacies and a health food shop in Malton town centre, welcomed the project. “If you can’t count it, you can’t manage it. And so if there is an opportunity to count the number of people coming into various parts of the town then there is an opportunity to manage that situation and make improvements, hopefully. But it’s the improvements that we want rather than the counting.”