Eagle-eyed Andy Steele has won national recognition for his ability to spot crimes - sometimes even before they happen.

Andy reckons he has helped capture more than 800 villains since he became a CCTV operator at Brighton police station ten years ago.

He once spotted a suspect car and watched it for more than four hours before advising police to move in.

They arrested four people, recovered a stash of drugs and thousands of pounds in drugs money.

Now his tenacity has been rewarded by the National CCTV Users Group.

Director Peter Fry visited Brighton police station to present Andy with a Highly Commended certificate in the group's first annual awards.

Mr Fry said: "Andy's was a very good application and showed he was operationally-focused and produced very valuable results."

Andy, 44 and married with four children, was modestly embarrassed by the award, but admits he has a talent for the job.

He said: "I'm able to remember faces, parts of car index numbers, particular features of vehicles, things like that."

He once helped with the arrest of a man a month after an assault: "I remembered a distinctive tattoo the suspect had and I spotted him in West Street, Brighton."

Police on the ground were directed to the man who, surprised, admitted the offence.

But Andy has one problem - he can't switch off and even helps with arrests when he is not at work.

Andy said: "I can't help it. I'm always looking."

He was on a day off when he spotted a disqualified driver behind the wheel of a car. He phoned in and the suspect was arrested.

The next morning at work in front of a bank of TV screens he spotted two more disqualified drivers in just eight minutes and they too were arrested.

Andy was a TV and satellite installer until a back injury put him out of work.

He learned new skills through a government training scheme and joined the CCTV crew at Brighton police station when cameras first went live in 1994.

There were just 14 cameras in the city then, in what was the first project of its kind in the county. There are now 53.

CCTV manager Richard Hoare said all his nine operators were good at their work but Andy was exceptional: "It's not just about monitoring incidents and searching for missing people but anticipating things that might happen, watching people acting suspiciously, knowing your city and being streetwise.

"CCTV operators are often the unsung heroes of police work and I'm really pleased for Andy."