Bristol MP complains about school's 'covert cameras'

Bristol MP Darren Jones said he was "at a loss to understand" why the school hid cameras

An MP has written to a school to complain about its use of 'covert' CCTV surveillance of its playing fields.

Cotham School in Bristol said it had "reluctantly" installed the two cameras to try to put a stop to "persistent criminal damage".

In a letter to the school Bristol MP Darren Jones said he was "at a loss to understand" why the school hid cameras.

The school said the cameras were needed so that evidence of criminal damage could be passed to police.

However, community group We Love Stokes Lodge said the CCTV cameras were "a matter of serious concern".

'Anxious residents'

The letter is the latest development in a long-running row over Cotham School's use of Stoke Lodge in Bristol.

Mr Jones said in a letter to the school: "I appreciate that you wished to prevent criminal activity from taking place on the site, activity which I clearly do not condone, but this should be done in the legal way.

The land was sold to the council in 1947 for educational use

"The installation of covert cameras in this way is clearly a breach of your data protection law obligations and may be more seriously a breach of other legislation relating to surveillance and the use of CCTV cameras."

Stoke Bishop Ward Counsellors Henry Michallat and John Goullandris also wrote a letter to Cotham School asking for "written assurance" that regulations were observed.

"We have been inundated with emails and telephone calls from anxious residents who are, understandably, very concerned at being filmed without their consent," the letter reads.

The council granted Cotham School a 125-year lease for part of Stoke Lodge in 2011.

In March 2019, the school fenced off its part of the land to allow uninterrupted lessons and to safeguard staff and pupils.

Since then the school's field has been "subject to persistent criminal damage".

In a statement, Cotham School said: "Both cameras remain fully operational to allow us to continue to collect evidence to pass to the police, as the criminal damage to our property continues to persist."

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