CRITIC: Tory MP Andrew Lansley

It sent in undercover officers to monitor a newsagent’s shop to ensure that eight youngsters on paper rounds had child work permits.[> [> The surveillance, by Cambridgeshire County Council, was carried out using regulations intended to help authorities prevent serious crime, including terrorism.[>

[> But yesterday MPs, the TaxPayers’ Alliance, and the shop owners condemne the authority for using “a hammer to crack a nut”.[> [> Rashmi and Dips Solanki, 42, who run the shop in Melbourn, Cambs, were handed a six-month conditional discharge by Cambridge magistrates following the “sting” operation.[>

[> The Solankis, who now have a criminal record, were found guilty of employing delivery boys without a valid permit.[> [> They denied the charges, claiming there had been a simple mix-up over paperwork, and hit out at the council for monitoring them and their paperboys.[>

[> Rashmi, 38, who is the former sub-post­mistress for the village, said she felt deeply disturbed that unknown to them an officer had sat in a car staking out their shop.[> [>

She said: “It’s like something out of a film. Who do they think they are? They should only do such things for a serious crime. We are innocent people who are trying to make an honest living.[> [> “It’s ridiculous. We only found out they had been spying on us when we heard about it in court.[>

[> “This was a complete waste of everyone’s time and came out of confusion over paperwork.[> [> “At the end of the day it could all have been easily sorted out if the council had just spoken to us.”[>