British company Internet Eyes will offer a reward of up to $1740 to people who detect shoplifting and other crimes on a network of UK security cameras.

Subscribers will watch live footage over the internet on their home computers.

The company believes the different time zones made Australia the ideal location for detecting night-time crime in the UK.

“I would love people in Australia to be looking at this,” managing director Tony Morgan says.

The scheme could also be switched so that UK residents monitored cameras in Australian cities, Mr Morgan says.