A competition has been launched to find technology that can keep track of taxis and count the number of shoppers in a town centre.

Watford Borough Council is looking for developers who think they can solve two problems in the town centre.

Up to £20,000 of funding is available for one challenge - to find a way of confirming when taxis are in specific ranks, and help customers find disabled accessible taxis as well as direct drivers to the best ranks. It could also spot when non-taxis are parked in bays.

Up to £10,000 is available for another challenge - to count the number of people in the town centre over days and weeks to assess the success of events, work out how this changes from year to year and give information on peak times. This is broken down into zones and also includes parks.

Elected Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor said: “We are a bold and progressive council and we’re always looking at ways that we can improve services for people who live in our town. I want your thoughts on how we can be a tech-savvy council. I look forward to hearing from you.”

Watford Borough Council is hosting the Low-Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) Innovation Competition with Digital Catapult, the UK's leading advanced digital technology innovation centre. You can find out more about Digital Catapult at digicatapult.org.uk

Anyone who wants to enter the challenge can find full details at watford.gov.uk/innovationcompetition.

The deadline for applications is Monday June 11.