POLICE seized video footage from a primary school after children were filmed on a CCTV system as they changed for gym lessons.

The recording was seized after angry parents protested outside Charlestown Primary School in Salford.

The parents had discovered that the school's surveillance cameras were running round the clock and some children had been inadvertently filmed changing into gym gear in their classrooms before PE lessons.

Staff at the school had contacted police to ask them to remove the protesting parents. But after speaking to the parents officers took the footage from the cameras and a computer hard drive.

Police have studied the images and decided no further action is needed.

The school has disconnected the cameras involved in the row. there is no suggestion the footage was being used inappropriately.

But now Salford council is to review the use of all CCTV at its 82 primary schools. The review will look at which schools have cameras, where they are sited and what they are used for.

Parents say they were assured that cameras at Charlestown - installed to improve security - would be kept switched off most of the time. Police were called to the 220-pupil school on Monday after dad Jason Lowe began collecting signatures for a petition.

Mr Lowe, who has two sons at the school, said: "We were originally told that the cameras would hardly ever be used. But in the last week we have just found out that they are recording all the time.

"The children have to get changed in the classrooms because there are no changing facilities. We think it is wrong that the cameras are there. It is a breach of their privacy."

Headteacher Daniel Gauld, who has been at the school since 2006, was not available for comment.

The school is highly rated by Ofsted. Chairman of the school governors, Davina Heyhoe said: "The cameras were installed in 2006, prior to the current headteacher's appointment.

"They were put in to help improve security for pupils and for equipment. Parents would have been fully aware of the system, which complies with all the appropriate legislation.

"The system was renewed for the start of term with two new cameras put in for a specific security need. Charlestown is an open plan design inside so the cameras are sited at the most strategic points to help with security. In some cases, this means their coverage includes some classroom areas that are also walk-through routes.

"We were responding to concerns from some parents about the cameras being on while children got changed for gym class and had planned to put caps over the lens when required.

"However, the head decided this was not adequate and these particular cameras have been disconnected from the system pending a better, long-term solution which satisfies parents and still provides security for the school."

Cllr John Warmisham from salford council said: "Data Protection laws govern the privacy of individuals but I want to be clear that we give schools the right guidance for capturing and recording images of children.

"Our parents need to be confident that schools have the right procedures in place to protect any images they have of children and I want to be sure that parents have been properly informed about cameras in their child's school.

"Closed-circuit TV in schools is relatively new but it looks like it is here to stay and we need to ensure that our procedures and guidelines keep pace with this."