A customer at a Starbucks in South London was totally shocked to discover a spy camera hidden in an air vent above a toilet.
The matchbox-sized recording device was discovered hidden behind a grille above the customer toilet in the coffee chain's Vauxhall branch, directly opposite the HQ of MI6.
It was found by customer Ricci Arcari, who went into the branch on Tuesday evening and looked up in the bathroom, where he made the disturbing discovery.
The 33-year-old from Vauxhall, who is a regular at the South Lambeth Place branch, told the Standard: “I’d gone in and I had my drink. In that Starbucks there’s only one toilet, it’s a big one for everyone.
“I went in, used the toilet and as I was standing I was looking around. I looked up and thought that’s definitely a camera.
“I panicked a little bit, stopped doing what I was doing, closed the toilet lid and jumped up to have a look.
“I wanted to make sure it was what it was so I poked and prodded it a few times with my pinky and ran out and got the manager.”
The device has since been removed by staff at the coffee shop, who contacted the police.
It is not known how long the device had been in the toilet cubicle – or what it was being used for.
Mr Arcari, who works as a media manager for a local authority, said: “It’s quite shocking.
“You always think of creepy people doing something like this but you don’t think that it would actually happen.
“That cubicle is used by everyone. A mother or father will be like, that’s fine for their children, it’s a cubicle which is secure.
“You can’t even go to the toilet now in private without the feeling you are being watched.”
A spokesperson for Starbucks said: “This is a distressing discovery for our partners (employees) and customers, and we take our responsibility to provide a safe environment very seriously.
“As soon as the store was made aware of this, we removed the device and contacted the police who are investigating the incident.”
Starbucks said it is not known how the camera came to be there and whether it was placed there by a member of the public and the police are now dealing with it.
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