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An innocent passer-by was quizzed by police under anti-terror laws - because he took a photo of their patrol car.

David Gates, 42, saw they were parked illegally at a bus stop and decided to take a snap on his mobile phone.

But he was stunned when the two officers, who were knocking on the door of a nearby house, suddenly turned their attentions to him.

Accounts manager David claims they told him his picture could pose a security risk.

He says they asked him why he had snapped their BMW estate - and told him he was being questioned under the Terrorism Act 2000,which gave them stop-and-search powers.

David, from Southsea, Hants, says he co-operated fully but reckons it was "ridiculous" that the officers were so heavy handed. He was forced to give his full details and told a record of the incident would be kept on file for a year.

David, who spotted the police car at a bus stop in Portsmouth, Hants, said: "I explained that I had taken the picture as their car was parked illegally. And I said that taking a photograph in public was not illegal.

"I told them I thought using the Terrorism Act and suspecting me of being a terrorist was ridiculous."

Local Lib Dem MP Mike Hancock agreed that the use of the Terrorism Act in such circumstances seemed "excessive". He added: "The whole thing is quite bizarre. I don't have a problem with the officers parking at the bus stop, but I do have a problem with them using this legislation for something so trivial.

"If this was used in Portsmouth 50 times in a year, the statistics would make the city look like a hotbed of terrorism."

But Supt Neil Sherrington, deputy commander for Portsmouth police, claimed his officers - who were dealing with a domestic incident at the time - had acted "reasonably".

He said: "Police officers are given powers under the Terrorism Act to stop and search.

"The act states that 'this power can only be used for the purposes of searching for articles of a kind which could be used in connection with terrorism, and may be exercised whether or not the constable has grounds for suspecting the presence of articles of that kind'."

He added: "It is therefore reasonable for the officer in this case to have made reference to the act and been suspicious about why the photograph of the vehicle had been taken."

Reasonable for the officer to have been suspicious of why photo was taken

SUPT NEIL SHERRINGTON