A grandad is fuming after a convicted paedophile set up a secret camera pointing at his home towards his grandson's treehouse - and police REFUSED to investigate. <br /><br />Martin Prior first contacted police on December 22 last year after discovering a CCTV camera placed on a lane by his property in Cross Keys, near Hereford.<br /><br />The device was angled towards his treehouse and he fears a registered sex offender has been covertly filming his grandson and other children.<br /><br />An officer visited the next day and spoke to the suspected owner of the camera but Mr Prior was left stunned when cops said they were powerless to act.<br /><br />Mr Prior was even told the man - who was previously jailed for possessing indecent images of children - claimed to have placed the camera under advice from West Mercia Police.<br /><br />The camera currently remains in place on land which is not owned by the sex offender and does not cover his property.<br /><br />Mr Prior said: “We are worried that the sex offender may have concealed other cameras aimed at our property.<br /><br />"Our grandson is semi-resident with us; until this camera was placed, his young friends and relatives, male and female, came to play here.<br /><br />"But we have had to severely curtail these visits to protect these children from the possibility of being filmed. <br /><br />"Our niece is not allowed to visit us at all while this horrible situation persists.”<br /><br />Correspondence between Mr Prior and the police shows the Safer Neighbourhood Team refusing to investigate the camera, despite Mr Prior’s concerns over the "gross invasion of privacy”.<br /><br />In one email to Mr Prior, the Safer Neighbourhood Team said: “I am unaware of the advice upon which he may have chosen to site CCTV cameras.<br /><br />"Matters regarding the use of CCTV are for the Information Commissioner’s Office to oversee and address.”<br /><br />Mr Prior described the police response to the report as “off-the-shelf” and “unacceptable”.<br /><br />He has now complained to West Mercia Police’s professional standards department.<br /><br />A spokesperson for West Mercia Police said: “We are aware of a concern raised about the placement of a CCTV camera. <br /><br />"However, no crime has been reported to us and therefore it is not a police matter. CCTV concerns need to be raised with the Information Commissioner’s Office.<br /><br />“We can neither confirm nor deny the location or identity of a registered sex offender in the community.”<br /><br />Online advice from the Information Commissioner’s Office says: “The use of recording equipment, such as CCTV or smart doorbells, to capture video or sound recordings outside the user’s property is not a breach of data protection law.<br /><br />“People should try to point their CCTV cameras away from their neighbours’ homes, shared spaces, or public streets. But this is not always possible.<br /><br />“When people capture images and audio recordings outside of their boundary, they should consider how intrusive this activity is.<br /><br />“If someone is recording your child using CCTV, we would suggest talking to the person doing the recording.<br /><br />"If you feel the person is filming your child inappropriately or to cause them harm, you should contact the police.”
