Parents have raised concerns after a headteacher installed CCTV cameras INSIDE the girls and boys' toilets at an Essex school.
Mums and dads have branded the move 'disgusting'.
However, Neil Houchen, headteacher at Eastwood Academy, said the cameras had been fitted as part of a security crackdown and that it was his duty to ensure all areas of the school were kept safe.
Two cameras were put in after toilets and sinks were reportedly filled with toilet paper, and graffiti was scrawled on walls.
One furious parent said: "There seems to be some uproar from the students at Eastwood Academy as the school has installed cameras in the boys and girls toilets. It really is quite disgusting."
Unrepentant Mr Houchen told the Daily Mail that the cameras were not trained on the toilets themselves.
"CCTV cameras have been installed in the girls' and boys' toilets. I would like to stress that these cameras face the washbasins and do not face the cubicles," he said.
"The purpose of these cameras is to aid detection of acts of vandalism and/or bullying, which pupils have reported as occurring on an ad hoc basis. I see it as my duty to make all areas of the academy site as safe and secure as possible, including toilets."
He added that problems at the school were 'rare' but that he wanted to stamp it out entirely.
"I would like to stress these acts are extremely rare, but I am keen that the opportunity for such feckless misconduct is eradicated," he said.
He also said that no children had complained to him about the cameras.
In a further upgrade to the school's security, Mr Houchen plans to add swipe card entry systems to all classroom and cupboard doors.
Do your children have CCTV in the toilets?
Do you think it's an invasion of privacy or creating a safe environment for children?