The train spotters who are being treated like terrorists



Police are using draconian anti-terrorism powers against trainspotters, it has emerged.

Enthusiasts innocently taking photographs of carriages and noting serial numbers have been accused of behaving like a reconnaissance unit for a terror cell.



The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2000 has been used to stop a staggering 62,584 people at railway stations.



Another 87,000 were questioned under separate 'stop and search' and 'stop and account' legislation.



This photograph from 1960 shows young trainspotters recording train details at St Pancras station. But today they could find themselves on the wrong side of the Prevention of Terrorism Act

The figures were uncovered by Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker, who warned that Britain was sliding towards a 'police state'.



The revelation will increase concern that the controversial anti-terror powers are being used ' disproportionately'. Police have already employed them to suppress protests against the Government.



Mr Baker said: 'While it is important to be vigilant about the threat of terrorism to the transport network, the sheer scale of the number of people stopped by police on railway property is ridiculous.



'Law-abiding passengers get enough hassle on overcrowded trains as it is without the added inconvenience of over-zealous policing.



'The anti-terror laws allow officers to stop people for taking photographs and I know this has led to innocent trainspotters being stopped.



'This is an abuse of anti-terrorism powers and a worrying sign that we are sliding towards a police state.



'Trainspotting may be an activity of limited, and indeed questionable, appeal, but it is not a criminal offence and it is not a terrorist threat.'



Rail enthusiasts have been accused of behaving like reconnaissance agents for a terror cell

The 'Section 44' power has been used to stifle a number of protests against the Government.



In 2005, it was deployed against 82-year-old Walter Wolfgang when he made an anti-war protest during the Labour Party conference.



The legislation gives police the power to search any individual in any area designated by the Home Secretary to help protect against acts of terrorism.



There does not even need to be any reasonable grounds of suspicion that a crime is about to take place.



British Transport Police were unable to give specific figures for the numbers of railway enthusiasts stopped under these powers.



But in a letter to Mr Baker, the force's Chief Constable, Ian Johnston, said: 'There is clear guidance available to officers (and railway enthusiasts), and this has been reissued on a number of occasions over the last couple of months in response to the increased concern among some railway enthusiasts'.



Last October, the Daily Mail reported how a schoolboy was held as a terror suspect for taking photographs of a railway station during a school geography field trip.



Fabian Sabbara, 15, was dressed in the uniform of Rutlish High School in Merton, South London, when he was stopped at nearby Wimbledon station by three police community support officers.



PCSO Barry Reeve told Fabian, from nearby Cheam, to sign forms under Section 44 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The teenager was forced to comply or face arrest.

