Police chief says CCTV is vital

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Julie Spence, of Cambridgeshire Constabulary, is the latest top officer to enter the debate on the issue after Colin Langham-Fitt, acting chief constable of Suffolk police, questioned whether CCTV contributes to the "ongoing erosion of civil liberties".

Ian Redhead, deputy chief constable of Hampshire Constabulary, has also spoken of his fear of a shift towards an "Orwellian" society, where "cameras are at every street corner".

But Mrs Spence highlighted the value of CCTV and said footage is not monitored needlessly.

She pointed to a recent case in which a missing 11-year-old girl was quickly located in Cambridgeshire.

"Within 24 hours we had managed to track the movements of the missing girl and identify that she was with someone else at the time," she said.

"This proved invaluable to the inquiry team and the vital public appeals we needed to make.

"We had some excellent images of the girl. CCTV has helped the police considerably on a range of matters and this is one example of it."

Mrs Spence added: "We don't sit down and monitor what people are doing all of the time. While I understand there is a debate about the 'surveillance society', let's not lose sight of the fact this is a very vital tool to the police.

"Having CCTV saves hours of police officers' time and is very effective."