CCTV footage showing a Southampton woman performing a sex act in a city tower block lift should never have been handed to a national broadcaster, a digital rights organisation has said.

The woman involved claimed that the video, which was broadcast as part of a Channel 4 documentary called Caught on Camera, violated her right to privacy, but her complaint was thrown out by Ofcom.

Her face was blurred out during the 30-second clip when it was shown on TV although unedited footage seen by Ofcom shows her urinating in the lift before performing the sex act on the man.

An investigation has been launched into how and why a deal was struck between Southampton City Council and production firm Blast Films that led to the footage being aired.

Now the Open Rights Group, which campaigns to make the state more accountable, has said it believes the film should not have been passed to the film company by the council.

The organisation's communications director Pam Cowburn said: “Councils should only use CCTV to tackle crime or anti-social behaviour and not to pass on embarrassing footage to television companies.

“There was no public interest here.”

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She highlighted guidelines which state that information from surveillance systems must be “controlled and consistent” with the purpose of the system's use.

As reported by the Daily Echo the woman, known only as Ms K, claimed her loved ones recognised her in the footage despite the blurring and said that this triggered stress which resulted in her giving birth prematurely.

Ofcom ruled against her, noting that there were clear warning signs advising lift users that they were being filmed.

But the city council admitted to mistakes regarding the show, which was aired last year, and said that new guidelines had since been drawn up.

A spokesman for ICO, an independent body set up to uphold information rights, said: “There are a number of issues we would need to consider here, including whether the information could be classed as personal information and whether there was a public interest in the footage being broadcast.

“If the individual is unhappy with the way their information has been handled then they can make a complaint to our office and we will look into the full details to establish whether a breach of the Data Protection Act has occurred.”

Southampton City Council and Blast Films declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Echo.