Council spies check up on Bolton litter louts

12:41pm Monday 28th April 2008

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BOLTON Council is using crime-fighting and anti-terror laws to spy on litter louts and people who let their dogs foul in public places.

The council authorised 124 directed surveillance operations to investigate noise nuisance, littering, dog-fouling, fly-tipping, underage sales and sales of counterfeit goods, benefit fraud and anti-social behaviour.

A spokesman for the council said surveillance was a combination of CCTV cameras, tape-recordings of "noise nuisance" and employees "observing" to prevent criminal activity.

The findings were revealed in a survey of UK councils which has found that some local authorities have used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) more than 100 times in the last 12 months to conduct surveillance.

But Cllr Cliff Morris, Bolton's Council Leader, said: "Surveillance over noise nuisance is a reaction to complaints from the people who are living with it and we have to check that these complaints are correct. So that is also to the benefit of the people who are being complained against and I would go along with that."

He said litter was a problem and cameras in places like Newport Street, Bolton, were there to catch people who were breaking the law.

"It's about evidence gathering. So as long as they are not being used covertly I am in favour of them. We don't want to interfere with peoples' lives when we shouldn't."

The findings, obtained by the Press Association news agency, come from 46 of the 468 local authorities in the UK.

Simon Davies, director of campaign group Privacy International, called for a review of Ripa.

"Ripa put physical surveillance on a legal basis but that doesn't make it right or morally right - it just covers the back of local authorities, but at huge expense," he said.