IN modern Britain it sometimes feels we are being spied on at every moment. CCTV cameras track our movements; businesses monitor our online spending; smartphones send out signals revealing where we are.

The constant snooping can become oppressive. This may help explain some of the resistance to City of York Council’s ‘camera car’.

The CCTV-equipped car was brought in to monitor illegally parked school-run parents.

As we reveal today, however, it is also being used at other times of day to catch other motorists.

Some traders have accused the car of lying in wait for potential victims – and claim fines have been issued for very minor infringements.

Campaign group Privacy International says use of the car amounts to ‘cynical surveillance’.

We wouldn’t go that far: presumably motorists have nothing to fear if they don’t break the law.

But we do agree with Chris Steward, the leader of York’s Conservative group, that indiscriminate use of the car risks needlessly antagonising people.

If it is to be used, it should be sparely and with specific aims in mind – not simply as a handy way of raking in revenue. That really would be cynical.