John Wadham, director of Liberty, says:

"We have to get the balance right on the use of CCTV and other surveillance equipment in public places - between protecting people's safety and protecting their privacy.

"Pouring money into thousands more cameras without ensuring that their use is properly controlled by law is not a balanced way forward. John Denham says we should be reassured to have "an extra set of eyes watching over" us. It would be more reassuring if knew whose eyes, what they're watching and what happens to what they see and the information they record - and knew that the watchers are adequately controlled by law. At present they are not.

"CCTV systems can be a valuable weapon in tackling crime in certain situations; but we need clearer controls in law so that the data they gather isn't misused to intrude on people's privacy or infringe their rights".