MORE than 150 CCTV cameras are currently watching our every move.
Whether you're popping to the shops for a paper, getting some cash out or talking to a friend outside the pub, the chances are it's being recorded.
The cameras – which survey the Reigate and Banstead borough and Tandridge district – are used by our councils and police to monitor our town centres, car parks and parks.
But their use, and quantity, has divided opinion, with some residents saying it makes them feel safer while others have likened it to living in a fish bowl.
According to Surrey Police, the cameras are vital and are used extensively in monitoring crimes in progress and in helping with inquiries.
But some residents who spoke to the Mirror said the number of cameras being used was excessive and rather than simply being useful to the authorities was more like an invasion of privacy.
"It's over the top," said 51-year-old Redhill shopper John Bass. "The problem is they're everywhere. Do we really to spend so much on monitoring everything in the high street?" he added. "It's more like you're being followed. More like you're trapped in a fish bowl."
And Mike Satchell, who owns a kiosk in Queens Park, Caterham – where ten cameras are in operation – said in some cases the cameras proved useless, like when his kiosk was broken into and not a single camera picked anything up.
"I wasn't particularly happy about it," he said. "I would have thought at least one of them would have showed something up. The whole point of having the cameras is to prevent things like this and if they're not showing anything then what's the point? Some cameras have now been repositioned to show the kiosk."
Other residents said that while the cameras didn't necessarily make them feel safer it was still good to know they were there if they were needed.
According to the figures, released after a Freedom of Information Request, 123 cameras located in 16 locations are operated by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council – including 40 in two multi-storey car parks.
In Tandridge, car parks in Ellice Road, Oxted, Station Road, Whyteleafe and Station Road, Woldingham have four cameras each while Whyteleafe Recreation Ground has five and Grange Meadow in Bletchingley has four. Information released by Surrey Police revealed cameras are also in operation at Godstone Green, Oxted Road East and Oxted Road West.
