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Chronicle Live
Chronicle Live
National
Ian Johnson

Wetherspoon toilet drama as shocked woman finds CCTV above Five Swans toilet

A Wetherspoon pub has defended installing a toilet CCTV camera, insisting it can't see into the cubicle.

The Five Swans, in St Mary's Place, has recently re-opened after a revamp which cost over £1m.

However a spooked customer contacted ChronicleLive after spotting the camera inside the award-winning female toilets.

The toilets at the Five Swans, Newcastle, have been awarded platinum in the Loo of the Year awards (Free editorial use)

The customer, who asked not to be named, feared the camera was an "invasion of privacy".

She claims she has since emailed the pub over her concerns.

The Information Commission Office states toilet CCTV should only be used in "exceptional circumstances", such as dealing with "very serious concerns".

However bosses at the pub maintain there is nothing to worry about.

"They have been specifically placed there to keep an eye on the floor, not inside (the cubicles)," said a manager for the pub.

The Five Swans, pictured in 2016 (Newcastle Chronicle)

"We have a sign on the door stating there is CCTV in operations, so by law we can have it, but this is more in case someone puts a claim in because they slip as the toilet floor is wet.

"There are no issues and we have not had any complaints. The contractor (who installed them) is happy with where they are placed."

The Spoons closed last October for over three months for the revamp, re-opening on February 11.

However the camera caught the female customer off-guard on Saturday evening when she was out with her husband.

"It is a total invasion of privacy," she claimed.

A Wetherspoon pub in Newcastle has defended a CCTV camera in the woman's toilets (ChronicleLive)

"If it is on or not, it shouldn't be positioned where it was as you can see it from inside the cubicle and it just makes you feel uncomfortable.

"You just feel that if you can see if from inside the cubicle, which I could, then it can see over."

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However the pub insists that isn't the case, with a manager adding: "We are Wetherspoon, we are a big company, we are not interested in seeing you inside the toilet."

Before the revamp, the pub's toilets were awarded the platinum award at the 2017 Loo of the Year awards.

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