SPECIAL BRANCH

Council uses anti-terror laws to hunt tree pruner

By Robbie Colin, 25/10/2009

POWER-CRAZED council chiefs are using anti- terror laws to find a man who attacked a TREE.

The town hall busybodies invoked the Regulation of Investigative Powers Act to hunt through mobile phone companies' records for the fugitive tree-rorist.

But he wasn't so much al-Qaeda as Al-Titchmarsh.

And his only terrifying crime was giving a false address to a council officer after being caught illegally lopping low branches off a Scottish pine.

Now Croydon council in south London faces uproar for invoking an Act that was brought in to protect national security. It has been blasted by civil rights groups as a "snoopers' charter" after councils used it to spy on litterbugs, illegally parked drivers, and families lying to get their child into a better school.

A Croydon council spokesman defended its use saying: "A search for the address of a man caught illegally pruning a preserved mature Scots pine was made only after every other avenue open to us was exhausted. The man was caught committing a criminal act after complaints from residents.

"When questioned by our tree officer he gave his mobile number but with a false address."

Unfortunately their use of anti-terror law was in vain - the tree feller was using a prepaid, unregistered phone, so he is still at large. And ironically the snooping council has even REFUSED to disclose where the tree is . . . because it is on private land and identifying it would breach the Data Protection Act!

Last night Isabella Sankey of human rights watchdog Liberty stormed: "Another day, another case of sledgehammer powers used to crack a nut."

robbie.collin@notw.co.uk

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