VIRGINIA WHEELER, SUN UK - A council is planning to catch residents who
leave rubbish out on the wrong day - with cameras hidden in baked beans
tins.
Sneaky Ealing Council in West London will also put the tiny CCTV bugs
inside house bricks to film offenders. Householders caught breaking
strict new rubbish rules - dubbed "enviro-crimes" - will be fined up to
L1,000.
The surveillance plans have outraged residents who say it is the latest
example of Big Brother Britain. It follows a L2million scheme adopted by
six councils to put the devices in wheelie bins.
A spokesman for Tory-controlled Ealing said the L200 movement-sensitive
bugs - which may be placed on existing rubbish piles - would become a
"vital tool" in catching wheelie bin misusers and graffiti artists.
He said: "To catch vandals and enviro-criminals, cameras disguised as
anything from tin cans to house bricks will instantly email images to
the council's CCTV control centre."
He added that people who put their rubbish out at all times of the day
and night will be targeted. The Ealing Tory councillor responsible for
environment Will Brooks said anyone who broke the laws would be
considered a fly-tipper.
But local resident Danny Christie, 64, branded the scheme as "utterly
insane". He said: "I've lived here all my life and have never heard of
anything so screwed-up. Since when did forgetting to put your rubbish
out make you a criminal? James Bond is the sort of person to use spy
cameras in bean tins - not the local council. Are we living in Soviet
Russia or Korea these days?"
"It's nuts. Big Brother gone mad."
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007130274,00.html
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leave rubbish out on the wrong day - with cameras hidden in baked beans
tins.
Sneaky Ealing Council in West London will also put the tiny CCTV bugs
inside house bricks to film offenders. Householders caught breaking
strict new rubbish rules - dubbed "enviro-crimes" - will be fined up to
L1,000.
The surveillance plans have outraged residents who say it is the latest
example of Big Brother Britain. It follows a L2million scheme adopted by
six councils to put the devices in wheelie bins.
A spokesman for Tory-controlled Ealing said the L200 movement-sensitive
bugs - which may be placed on existing rubbish piles - would become a
"vital tool" in catching wheelie bin misusers and graffiti artists.
He said: "To catch vandals and enviro-criminals, cameras disguised as
anything from tin cans to house bricks will instantly email images to
the council's CCTV control centre."
He added that people who put their rubbish out at all times of the day
and night will be targeted. The Ealing Tory councillor responsible for
environment Will Brooks said anyone who broke the laws would be
considered a fly-tipper.
But local resident Danny Christie, 64, branded the scheme as "utterly
insane". He said: "I've lived here all my life and have never heard of
anything so screwed-up. Since when did forgetting to put your rubbish
out make you a criminal? James Bond is the sort of person to use spy
cameras in bean tins - not the local council. Are we living in Soviet
Russia or Korea these days?"
"It's nuts. Big Brother gone mad."
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007130274,00.html
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