One council that firmly believes in using surveillance powers to the fullest is Poole, on the South Coast.

Officials authorisied spying operations to detemine whether fishermen were illegally gathering shellfish in the town’s harbour and to try to find out who had damaged a barrier.

Then the council decided that an Act of Parliament designed to defeat terrorism should be used to see if a couple had been cheating the school catchment system. Tim Joyce and Jenny Paton and their children were put under surveillance for more than two weeks before being asked by Poole Council to “come in for a chat”.

The council had launched the spying operation because they wrongly suspected that the couple had lied about living in the catchment area for Lilliput First School to get their child a place.

Ms Paton, 39, said: “They said they wanted to discuss school catchment areas. I asked them if it was a legal process and they said ‘no’. But when we went in to see them they questioned us for 45 minutes. We weren’t cautioned or invited to get legal advice. At the end, they told us that under Ripa powers they ‘conducted surveillance’ on us for three weeks.”

Ms Paton said: “I was horrified that we’d been watched. We expected to have some scrutiny because we own two homes. But the way the council checked we lived in the catchment area was outrageous.”

She said they had told the council they could come round and check the house to prove they lived there.

“But instead of coming round openly, they spied on us. I can’t believe they were watching my children. Most disturbing was that they tailed us in the car. What was the purpose?

“For faceless council workers to be able to interrogate you and then tell you that they’ve been watching you . . . I’m disgusted.”

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