CCTV cameras protecting a Bolton car compound are to be removed because residents thought the cameras were snooping on them.

IGW Recovery Services put up the almost five metre high mast to monitor their site next to Belmont Park estate before seeking planning permission.

But householders protested that it was like living with Big Brother because they said the placement of the CCTV pole meant the cameras could look directly into their front rooms.

One resident who lives across the road from the compound on Belmont Park estate said: "We were worried it could look into our bedroom but they told us it couldn't.

"I don't think it should be there. I think it's all wrong that they can put cameras up so near to residents."

Councillors were told that agents for IGW, contracted by Greater Manchester Police to pick up stolen and accident-damaged vehicles which it stores at the site, insisted the set-up of the cameras meant it was impossible for them to spy on the estate.

A report by council planners, however, said: "Some local residents have stated that the cameras have in the past pointed directly at their properties."

Astley Bridge councillor Stuart Lever was unequivocal in his opposition to the CCTV site.

"They have got to be taken down straight away," he said. "They are a gross intrusion of privacy. Everyone is livid."

His words were echoed by Cllr David Wilkinson who said: "There's a camera lower down on the pole which points straight across the road to the bungalows opposite and their front rooms.

"If a CCTV camera is worth its salt you can see that distance quite clearly. I just think it's a serious infringement of people's privacy."

Cllr Roger Hayes branded the cameras a "gross intrusion."

But Cllr Eric Hyland said: "I can't believe for a minute that those cameras have been looking into people's properties. I would have thought the residents would be pleased that this piece of land is being observed."

Another resident, who lives near the site in Belmont Road, said: "There does seem to be potential for the cameras to look at properties but I've never seen them move away from the cars."

The council planners' report concluded that there was no evidence that the cameras actually could look at Belmont Park properties but added: "There exists a genuine public concern over the perceived loss of privacy brought by the cameras."

Councillors voted by a slender margin of 12 to nine on Thursday to reject the retrospective planning application for the CCTV mast.

No one from IGW was available for comment.