Many teachers say they are concerned about "hidden" surveillance cameras located in their schools.

A snapshot survey of 249 primary and secondary school teachers suggested 84.6% had CCTV in their school.

The research, conducted by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), also suggested more than half - 52.9% - said it made them feel safer.

But 23.4% were concerned there may be hidden cameras whose existence was kept from both staff and pupils.

Tonia Matthews, a teacher at Trinity secondary school in Newbury, Berkshire, said: "Students feel secure to know if there has been an incident, i.e. bullying.

"We can then go back and look what happened."

Although 97.6% of teachers said CCTV was primarily used for security purposes, 49.5% said it was used for monitoring pupil behaviour.

Many schools have CCTV cameras and some are in classrooms.

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