CONTROVERSY has erupted over a spy camera in the gents toilets at a Burnley pub.

Customers complained to the Big Window pub in Manchester Road, and the Licensed Victuallers’ Association said it was first time they had heard of cameras in a pub toilet.

Real ale group Camra said the wall-mounted security device was an infringement of people’s civil liberties.

But pub bosses say the camera is necessary after a spate of vandalism and to deter drug-taking.

They have said the camera has been angled away from the urinals.

But pub users insist they are ‘uncomfortable’ at the move and want the new CCTV system to be scaled back.

Teaching assistant Andrew Taylor, of Bank Hall, Burnley, who regularly drinks at the pub, said: “It’s not something I am comfortable with.

“The toilets in the pub are very close to the bar so the cameras could be positioned just outside the toilets and staff could do regular checks.

"At least then they would have an idea who was responsible.”

Richard Makepeace, 71, from Padiham, said: “It’s something which makes me feel very uncomfortable, to be honest.

"While I can see their problem, you wonder what happens to the footage afterwards.”

Martin Caffrey, operations director at the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations, said: “It’s the very first time I have ever heard of CCTV in toilets.

“I can perhaps understand it because it is an unsupervised area in terms of potential misuse and illegal activity, but it seems a rather drastic step.

“It is very unusual and absolutely not common, fraught with all sorts of other issues.”

Mark Chung, East Lancashire CAMRA chairman, said: “I wouldn’t personally be comfortable going into a pub where there was a camera in the toilets.

“I can perhaps understand why they have done it, in this case, but it would infringe people’s civil liberties.”

The pub’s management insists the camera was only erected amid concerns over criminal damage in the the toilets, which have just undergone a £20,000 refurbishment.

Landlady Linda McCarthy said: “How do we control vandalism in our toilets without this then?

"It is not invading anyone’s privacy.”

James Bear, director of Big Window owners Amber Taverns, said: “The cameras do not point where people are using the urinals.

“It is not unique to have CCTV in pubs and other public places.

"We are sorry that some people feel that their privacy is being invaded but the safety of people visiting the pub is paramount.

“We have recently upgraded the toilets and we want to make sure people respect them and it is safe environment.

“I think it would be niave not to accept that drugs are being used in teh toilets as well, although this is more of a community pub.”

The positioning of the cameras had been reviewed after initial concerns were outlined by customers, he added.

Council bosses say the installation of CCTV cameras in pub toilets is not covered by current licensing legislation.