COUNCILS will be ordered to stop spying on residents committing trivial offences, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced today.

Town hall snoopers will be barred from using spy cameras and covert surveillance on people suspected of putting bins out on the wrong day, or letting dogs foul in the street.

The move follows growing concern that powers intended to target terrorism are instead being used by officials to catch people using fake addresses to get children into better schools, or underage smokers.

Officials spying on trivial offences have been branded the ‘Bin stasi’ amid widespread condemnation of the growth of the Big Brother state.

But councils have defended their use in operations to target anti-social behaviour, rouge traders, fly tipping and benefit fraud. And today, BirminghamPublic Protection chairman, Coun Neil Eustace insisted: “We are not the secret police. I have no interest in prying into people’s lives.

“But when people are dumping tons of asbestos or old tyres in your road, and when you see how much it costs the taxpayer to clean up Birmingham, we will use what powers we can to deal with them.

“We have also used cameras to catch loan sharks and rouge traders. We are very responsible in Birmingham.”

He insisted that Birmingham does not use cameras to deal with people putting out bin bags on the wrong day.

“We stick a letter through their door, or talk to them about it and if they keep doing it we take them to court,” he added.

Ms Smith has called a review of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, known as RIPA, to ensure they are only used for serious offences.

Most recent figures in the West Midlands show that RIPA was used 346 times in Birmingham, the UK’s largest local authority, between 2005 and May 2008, while Worcestershire County Council used them 63 times.