Temporary Remote CCTV for Overflow Yards and Storage Sites

When a business takes on an overflow yard, the extra space usually arrives before the security does.

The main depot already has fencing, lighting and permanent cameras. The overflow site is different - often a piece of rented land taken on quickly because the business has grown and valuable equipment needs somewhere to go. Temporary remote CCTV gives that site immediate coverage without waiting for a permanent system to be designed, mains power to be connected or a fixed internet line to be installed.

That was the situation facing Summit Platforms. The powered access hire company needed to protect an overflow yard in Essex full of access equipment and vehicles, with no cameras on site and a need to sort it quickly.

Why overflow yards are so easily left unprotected

An overflow yard is usually a sign the business is doing well. More kit is moving through the depot, the original site has hit capacity and extra space is needed. But because that space is often taken on at short notice, it rarely has the infrastructure of the main site - no permanent CCTV, no mains power where you need it, no fixed internet, nobody based there through the day and no established way of keeping an eye on it out of hours.

The result is that some of the business's most valuable equipment ends up on its least protected site. Cherry pickers, scissor lifts, telehandlers, lorries and trailers, parked up on ground nobody is watching. Equipment theft is a real cost across the sector. The National Federation of Builders puts the annual bill for tool and equipment theft at close to £100 million, which makes an unprotected secondary yard a risk worth addressing.

Searching for temporary remote CCTV

Amy, Depot Manager at Summit Platforms, searched online for temporary remote CCTV and contacted three providers before speaking to CCTV Hire & Sales.

"I googled temporary remote CCTV and rang about three companies. Everyone else had nothing for a couple of weeks or just said: "Sorry, we don't do that." CCTV Hire & Sales were the most helpful and the most willing to do what they could for us. They said: "You've got a problem, let's solve it... and this is how we're going to do it."

Temporary CCTV installed within 24 hours, without a separate survey visit

CCTV Hire & Sales had a tower delivered and live within 24 hours. The yard was in Essex and the team was operating from Sheffield, but the distance did not delay the deployment. REG Army Tower REG-0050 was redirected from a completed job in London rather than run back to the yard in Rotherham and it was live at Summit Platforms on 23 December 2025.

No formal site survey was needed. Amy described the yard and the requirement over the phone. When the engineer arrived, he walked the site, confirmed where coverage was needed and positioned the tower.

"They managed to turn around getting the camera to us within 24 hours. I'm down in Essex and they're in Sheffield. There was no site survey needed - I explained it over the phone as much as I could, the guy came and walked round, asked where we wanted it and that was it. Straightforward."

Remote monitoring without permanent site infrastructure

A temporary remote CCTV tower is built for exactly this kind of site - one where permanent infrastructure is unavailable, unsuitable or simply not justified yet. For an overflow or storage yard, it means coverage can go in without first arranging fixed cabling, broadband or a permanent installation. What Summit Platforms got was a clear view of the yard when they needed it, notifications when the tower detected activity, telephone support on hand and a simple way to hand over to a colleague during time off.

"The comms have been really good. They're always on the end of the phone, and if there's a problem they come and sort it. I get the notifications and when I'm on holiday it's very easy to hand over to someone else. They're very easy to deal with. The service from start to finish has been pretty good."

What began as a three-month hire

The tower was booked to stay for three months. It has been there a good deal longer. We're writing this post in July 2026

"It was meant to be three months. It's been there since just before Christmas."

That is one of the unknown advantages of temporary remote CCTV. The hire can carry on for as long as the overflow yard is needed, or while the business works out whether a permanent system is worth installing. There is no need to guess at the outset exactly how long the extra site will be in use. Seven months into a three-month booking, the tower is still on Amy's yard. Its continued use says more about its practical value than any specification sheet.

The same problem at Moore Commercials

Summit Platforms was not an isolated situation. Moore Commercials, a commercial vehicle dealer, needed to protect valuable vehicles on a storage site that had no fixed security infrastructure. CCTV Hire & Sales supplied a Premium tower that ran without a mains connection and covered the site while it stayed in use.

The businesses were different but the problem was the same: valuable assets had moved onto a site faster than permanent protection could be installed. That is a problem the REG Army is built to fix.

When temporary remote CCTV suits an overflow yard

A temporary tower tends to make sense when you have

• taken on extra yard or storage space at short notice
• there is plant, vehicles or other valuable equipment sitting on it
• permanent CCTV has not been installed
• there is no suitable mains power or fixed internet
• the site stands empty overnight, at weekends or over the holidays.

The point is not whether the yard is officially "temporary". It is whether valuable equipment is sitting there with nobody able to see what is happening.

Holiday shutdowns are simply the longest stretch of nobody being about. The site is quiet, fewer people are passing and, as the Chartered Institute of Building has noted, replacing stolen equipment is particularly difficult over Christmas.

What to look for when hiring temporary CCTV for a yard

Summit's experience points to what actually matters when a yard needs covering quickly. Not every temporary tower is built for a site like this - a few things separate one that will do the job from one that will let you down.

Deployment that matches the urgency

If your kit is already on the site and vulnerable, a long wait for a survey and installation leaves the problem unsolved. Ask how soon a working system can realistically be on the ground.

Power designed for the site

Check how the tower keeps running when mains power is unavailable and solar generation is reduced during shorter winter days. Our Dual Power Plus combines solar power with methanol fuel cells and a 48-hour battery backup, so the tower keeps recording whether the sun shines or not.

Detection in darkness

Overflow and storage yards often have little or no lighting. Dual Vision thermal cameras pick a person out by their heat signature, in the dark, at up to 80 metres - rather than depending on a security light and good luck.

Alerts, monitoring and response

Recording is only part of the job. Be clear about who receives alerts, what they can see and what happens when activity is detected.

Support after installation

A temporary system can stay in place for months. The provider should still be on the end of the phone long after the tower goes up, not treat installation as the end of the job.

Temporary remote CCTV for as long as it is needed

CCTV Hire & Sales is a family business run by Phil Clarke and his sons, with over 40 years of field experience behind it. The REG Army is a fleet of 130+ towers built to permanent-site specification, ready to deploy across the UK on a next-working-day basis, with same-day often possible in an emergency. How's that for Premium by Design?

Every hire is backed by the No-Brainer Promise: rapid deployment, zero power outage and 99% uptime, or you get up to six months free.

If your business has taken on an overflow or storage yard and there is valuable kit sitting on it with nothing watching, call CCTV Hire & Sales on 0114 321 1785 and we will tell you what we can do. You can also read more about our rapid deployment CCTV service, see how we secure a yard that has no power, or visit our CCTV tower hire page.