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The Information Commissioner has launched a probe into the release of CCTV footage which showed Jeremy Corbyn walking past unoccupied seats on a train he later claimed to be 'ram packed.'

The watchdog says Virgin Trains, who released to footage is investigating whether the firm had "legitimate grounds" to use the footage to disprove Mr Corbyn's claim.

Mr Corbyn sat on the floor of the 11am train from London to Newcastle, after he claimed he could not find a seat.

He made a video, published by the Guardian in which he claimed the train was 'ram packed', adding that there were not enough trains and making an argument for nationalisation of the railways.

But in an extraordinary intervention by Virgin boss Richard Branson, the firm released footage and stills from the CCTV camera on the train, which appeared to show Mr Corbyn walking past a number of empty seats as the train left London, before he made the video.

(Image: Virgin Trains)

Mr Corbyn's team said there were no unoccupied or unreserved seats - and that the empty seats in the photograph all had bags on them.

Train staff later "shuffled" other passengers around to allow Mr Corbyn to sit next to the two other members of his team.

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(Image: Virgin Trains)

A spokesperson for the Information Commissioner's Office said: “We are aware of the publication of CCTV images of Jeremy Corbyn and are making enquiries,” she said.

“All organisations have an obligation to comply with the Data Protection Act and must have legitimate grounds for processing the personal data they hold.

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“Where there’s a suggestion that this hasn’t happened, the ICO has the power to investigate and can take enforcement action if necessary.”

Virgin Trains declined to comment, but did note that all images and videos released through the press had faces other than Mr Corbyn's pixelated.