One surveillance camera for every 11 people in Britain, says CCTV survey He added: "Effective CCTV schemes are an invaluable source of crime detection and evidence for the police. For example, in 2009 95 per cent of Scotland Yard murder cases used CCTV footage as evidence. But Nick Pickles, director of the privacy campaign Big Brother Watch, said: "This report is another stark reminder of how out of control our surveillance culture has become. With potentially more than five million CCTV cameras across country, including more than 300,000 cameras in schools, we are being monitored in a way that few people would recognise as a part of a healthy democratic society. "This report should be a wake up call that in modern Britain there are people in positions of responsibility who seem to think "1984" was an instruction manual." The survey included all cameras in public and private areas, regardless of whether the images are recorded or watched "live." It estimated there are between 291,000 and 373,000 cameras in public sector schools, plus a further 30,000 to 50,000 in independent schools. Surgeries and health centres have an estimated 80,000 to 159,000, while there are believed to be between 53,000 and 159,000 cameras in restaurants, the report said.