Female 999 operator wins pay-off from fire service after hiring private investigator to spy on her More than 300 companies and individuals could be involved in so-called "blue chip" hacking where private information is obtained unlawfully through a range of shady methods. Mrs Orchard, who lives with her husband Gareth, daughter Ashleigh, five, and Haydn, two, said she received odd phone calls to the family home by people asking if she could do some work for them, her family and neighbours saw men hiding in cars outside her house, and then she found the GPS tracker attached to the underside of her Audi. She said: "I was getting phone calls from people trying to get me to take on work. I'd told them I couldn't because I was signed off work. The number hadn't been withheld and when I looked it up it was for a private investigator. This is an infringement into my family life. The whole situation has made me very ill. It is not right that public money is being used in this way. The car is in my name, but it was also used by my husband. One of my children was just a baby when this surveillance started. Since then I've spent £300 on installing blinds on my windows. It was horrible to think someone was watching us. When I saw a man laid down in the car near my house, I never felt so scared in all my life. Mrs Orchard was exonerated by the fire service probe but after complaining to her bosses and involving the Fire Brigades Union, she has now left her job after signing a "compromise agreement" in which she agreed not to take the service to court for human rights violations over "unnecessary surveillance or invasion into privacy and family life." In a separate letter, Mrs Orchard was told this clause was added to the service's usual wording due to the "specific circumstances" of her case. David Williams, West Yorkshire secretary at the Fire Brigades Union, said: "This is an extreme case. It's sad that they go to all that trouble and expense to see if someone is working on their days off. It's a shame they feel they have to stoop to this level. It's not great when they are spying on their own employees. Mrs Orchard's MP, Tory Philip Davies, said: "I'm generally for intelligence-led investigations. If groups like the Department of Works and Pensions didn't do this people would be asking why. If it is done well then it can work, but it shouldn't be used whenever someone is off sick. Mrs Orchard has also contacted Carrie Austin, of private investigation firm Local PI, who confirmed to her that one of its agents fitted the GPS tracker to her car, and even asked her for its return. West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said they did not comment on individual cases.