EVERY car coming into Manchester is being snapped by a new network of police spy cameras.

Each day, 600,000 motorists' journeys are being captured, and the data will be stored for five years.

The cameras have been installed on the 12 major routes into the city, making it virtually impossible to travel into the middle of Manchester and not have your number plate recorded.

Manchester is the first city outside London to use Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras in this way.

Police will store details of the licence plate, colour of car and a time stamp on a central computer. They say it will help combat terrorism, crime and vehicle theft.

But civil rights campaigners fear the system means drivers are being subjected to `mass surveillance' as they go about their daily business.

The Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras have been set up around the city centre to capture vehicles travelling in and out on all major routes. The system records vehicle details and checks them with the Police National Computer, the DVLA database in Swansea and also local police intelligence databases.

Database

It can identify stolen vehicles, track cars used by terrorists, criminals and banned drivers and spot car tax and insurance dodgers.

James Welch, legal director of the civil rights group Liberty, said: "We have no problem with its use to locate vehicles whose owners police firmly suspect of having committed an offence.

"But it shouldn't be used for mass surveillance, or to target people the police have a hunch are up to no good." The fixed cameras began operating this month, with details - not photos - fed to the national database. They scan details of cars travelling at up to 100mph.

Greater Manchester Police also uses mobile ANPR systems in patrol cars and there are fixed cameras in other places, including the Trafford Centre.

Manchester is thought to be the first city outside London with a ring of cameras around the entire centre - and cameras in the capital are also used to enforce the congestion charge.

All major motorways are also covered.

Assistant Chief Constable Dave Thompson said the fixed cameras `will bring enormous benefits and aid us in protecting our communities'.

Sheila Ranger, of the RAC Foundation, said: "Our worry with the ANPR system is that it will encourage some people not to register their vehicles at all."

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