A civil liberties group has said Hampshire police must 'urgently drop' a planned use of facial recognition tech set to help battle crime.

Big Brother Watch hit out as the force said it would use cameras to identify wanted people, track down offenders recalled to jail, find missing people and safeguard children.

For three days Hampshire police will use a van from South Wales Police equipped with a camera and tech that checks faces against a database of images used in the operation.

But Big Brother Watch said Hampshire Constabulary is "trampling over the public’s rights".

A spokesperson said: "Live facial recognition is a dystopian mass surveillance tool more commonly used in countries like Russia and China than in liberal democracies like the UK.

"Hampshire police are trampling over the public’s rights and liberties by using this Orwellian technology.

"This technology completely destroys our privacy and has serious problems with accuracy and bias.

"This year, Big Brother Watch launched legal action against the Metropolitan Police after their live facial recognition surveillance systems mis-identified an innocent member of the public."

"Hampshire police must urgently drop their plans to use this rights-abusive technology."

Southern Co-op has been previously criticised for using facial recognition technology to deter and detect shoplifters.

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A spokesperson for the police added: “Whenever we use facial recognition technology, we recognise there is an ongoing need to balance privacy and protection concerns, in addition to considering its legal and ethical implications.”

Facial recognition technology is expected to be use in Southampton on Wednesday September 11. There will be signs pointing out the usage, and officers nearby.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul Bartolomeo said: “It is really important that police forces use every aspect of technology available to appropriately take criminals off the street and keep the public safe.

“Facial recognition can significantly help our officers by quickly scanning crowds to identify those on the watchlist, freeing up their time to focus on responding to emergencies, spending time patrolling within their communities and investigating crime.

“I’d like to reassure people that any alerts are verified by the operator and a police officer will conduct any enquiries with anyone who is matched."