While the constable dispatches a police car to the spot, he keeps watch through his desktop computer. He can tell his colleagues in the car exactly where the suspicious man is hiding.

That's the scenario foreseen by police, villagers, district office staff and rural leaders who've combined with security companies to create private CCTV security systems specifically for New Territories communities.

The first one has been installed and is operating successfully in Mok Tse Che. Versions of the system may be installed in scores of other villages. The interactive security system costs $30,000 to install. That worked out at about $200 per floor of every village house.

Sai Kung District Council members along with the Sai Kung Rural Committee and the district fight crime committee, were enthusiastic backers of the plan. Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong has been to inspect the system, and praised it as a positive move for self protection.

District Councillor Hiew Moo-siew, whose electorate of Pak Sha Wan covers the village, said the system was a good one: 'It will protect them against burglars.' He would be in favour of a similar CCTV system being installed in his home village of Nam Wai.

The private CCTV initiative sprang from a spate of burglaries which last year caused anger among residents and concern among police.

Wong Tai Sin District Police Commander Chief Superintendent Ian Seabourne wrote letters, which were delivered to every village household in Sai Kung and Clear Water Bay. He warned residents there had been 226 reported burglaries in Sai Kung last year and urged them to install alarm systems.

From this came the idea of installing anti-burglary security camera systems which would scan day and night within village boundaries.

Police informed all 101 security companies that deal with CCTV about their plans and two of the largest security specialists, Chubb and Gammon, have produced schemes which they're offering to rural communities.

It wasn't hard to sell the value of the scheme to villagers, said Yuen Kai-fan, elected indigenous villagers representative. There had been a dozen burglaries in Mok Tse Che in the previous 12 months. Although well managed and well lit, the hillside village sprawls along heavily bushed slopes, which provide shelter for illegal immigrants and potential thieves.

'The project was put together very quickly,' said Mr Yuen. 'We had to raise $30,000 for the initial set-up. After that, costs are minimal, just a few dollars for electricity and broadband fees.

'It's a continuing effort. We residents all have to work together. A number of us can monitor the village at any time,' he said. 'That's many sets of eyes who can see the wide angle view through the four cameras without leaving their own homes.'

Sai Kung District Police Commander Fred Tsui Wai-hung is an enthusiastic backer of the system. He stressed that it operated without infringing any privacy rights, covering only public areas of the community.

Any village installing the system can decide who gets access and to what level. For instance, at Mok Tse Che five residents on the management committee can click onto their computers and see what's happening in live time. But to gain access to the memory, which lasts for seven days, special codes are needed.

Villagers in Mok Tse Che have voted to give those rights to the police. 'This makes it easier for us to help the village,' said Chief Inspector Tsui.

Resident Chan Fai has lived there for seven years. His house at the mouth of the village road is well lit and is guarded by two chained dogs. 'I'm pretty safe,' he said. 'But the village is built on a hill and people who are most vulnerable are the ones on the fringes.'

Outside Mr Chan's homes is one of the steel posts holding a camera. A large notice warning people they are under surveillance is on his fence, close to the village shrine.

Chief Inspector Tsui is a realist. He knows it could take many years, even decades, to persuade some old traditionalist village residents of the value of CCTV safeguarding their homes. 'This communal concept combines modern technology with the spirit of the old village neighbourhood watch,' he said. 'The villagers own the system. But it's not simply a matter of paying for it. Residents have to monitor the images themselves, which can be done by anyone with broadband. They can do it from their home, office or even while abroad.

'They can report any suspicious person to police. If the village decides to authorise police to have access, and this is totally up to the residents, then we can also get into their website and play back data.

'In reality, this means that while a patrol car is heading for a village the officer in the report room can tell the approaching police exactly where the suspects are and what they look like and are wearing.'

When the patrol car gets to the vicinity police approach on foot. It gives them a better chance of nabbing intruders before they can disappear back into the thick woodlands.

There are other advantages. If a burglary or some other crime has been committed, police can go over the past week's stored images to look for clues.

There's also the deterrence factor. At Mok Tse Che, the unblinking eyes of the four CCTV cameras are in clear view and large, prominent posters warn people they're under scrutiny. Any potential burglar is in no doubt that they're being recorded, and their image stored for police to review. 'The deterrent effect is considerable,' said Chief Inspector Tsui.

Veteran policemen and villagers alike look back with nostalgia to the old days when New Territories communities were settlements with doors left open. But life has changed inexorably.

Instead of rural tranquillity with one-clan villages approachable only by foot down narrow paths, the New Territories is now part of the modern world. With that has come problems common everywhere.

A Hakka stone farmhouse had little of value to attract thieves, even if they could have reached family villages without road access.

Today, indigenous villagers have developed their agricultural land and the ubiquitous three-storey villas are often home to wealthy Chinese 'outsiders', or expatriates.

Such homes may contain rich pickings for burglars. 'The day of the village with open doors is gone a long time ago,' said Chief Inspector Tsui. 'Today, people have to be careful. This sort of CCTV system helps people to help themselves.

'Police will not reduce the number of patrols or normal coverage. But such monitoring of their own environment will add to village security.'

When Chief Inspector Tsui and other policemen explained the idea to indigenous village elders of the Sai Kung Rural Committee several months ago, one problem that came up was how to organise payment.

In the case of Mok Tse Che this was comparatively simple. Both elected village representatives, one for clansmen and one for all residents, were in favour of the scheme.

But in some settlements native sons may feel they're in no danger of being burgled and they're being asked to pay for protection for wealthy outsiders.

'There was not much resistance about paying for the system because everyone could see the common sense value,' said Henry Chu Hak-keung, the representative of all residents at Mok Tse Che. 'If you have not been robbed, you tend to think you are safe. If you've been burglarised, then you are not so certain.'

There was a village meeting to discuss the proposal. 'The idea of $200 per floor was about right to pay for the system but a lot of residents donated more,' Mr Chu said.

'We established a management team with five members who can monitor the village and use the playback function. We can't have the whole village online because broadband access doesn't allow it. But if any resident is interested we can arrange for them to see records and real-time shots.'

Mr Chu said no system was 100 per cent guaranteed to protect every house all the time. 'But with this, we can sleep easier. Anyone approaching the village must realise that they are being watched by the electronic eye,' he said.

'As the system spreads to more communities I think it will lead to a drop in burglaries because thieves will not want to take the risk of being caught on camera.'