The parents of some pupils have been left furious after CCTV cameras were installed in the toilets of a secondary school in County Durham.
Andy Black, whose 14-year-old daughter studies at Framwellgate School in Durham, criticised the move and called for the cameras to be removed.
Headteacher Andy Byers said the devices were set up to prevent bullying and vandalism, but do not breach anyone's privacy as they are placed outside the toilet cubicles.
Mr Black, however, said his daughter was left "mortified" and fears she will avoid going to the toilet at school if the cameras are not removed.
The dad also expressed concerns over who is monitoring the footage and how secure the system is.
Mr Black told The Northern Echo : "It’s a violation of privacy for the children. We were not consulted.
"My daughter is 14. and she is mortified at the thought that the school is monitoring her behaviour in the bathrooms.
"She said she just won’t go to the toilets at school at all and wait until she returns home."
The angry father said he has written to the school, saying it has no permission to film his daughter.
The school's headteacher, however, insisted: "The toilets are pretty much the only unsupervised area of the school where staff very rarely go and we have a duty of care to safeguard young people and keep them safe and that includes stopping bullying and damage and vandalism."
Mr Byers said cameras do not point at the toilets, but at the wash basins.
He added that in the boys' toilet, the urinals have been removed and replaced with cubicles to give students "extra privacy".
Mr Byers said the CCTV footage would not be routinely monitored and would not be stored unless there is a problem - and in that case, the school would inform parents.
Framwellgate School's headteacher Andy Byers said in a statement sent to The Mirror: "We are aware of one parent who is unhappy with our decision to use CCTV to cover the washbasin areas away from the toilet cubicles and has contacted the press to express his displeasure. As always I am heartened by the support we have received from many parents who understand what we are doing and why we are doing it.
"The majority of new school buildings are now designed so that cubicle doors open onto corridors and washbasins are placed in public view with CCTV coverage. Our old school buildings are not like this and our toilets are housed in more traditional rooms. We have spent the summer refurbishing the toilets to a high spec. This has included removing urinals from the boys' toilets and replacing them with private cubicles.
"School toilets are one of the only areas of a school where staff will rarely go and this makes them vulnerable to vandalism and students vulnerable to bullying. Our toilets have been damaged over a number of years and many of our students have told us that they don't like using them or don't feel as safe as they do in the rest of the school.
"Our decision to use CCTV to monitor the washbasin areas (ONLY) will help us to keep students safe and is a practice which is replicated in hundreds of new school buildings across the country. It should be stating the obvious in a school which places safeguarding and child protection above all else, to state that the cubicles themselves and changing areas remain completely private."
