LIVERPOOL council used spying laws to snoop on its own staff for two years.

The council used the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) to covertly monitor its wardens between 2008 and 2010.

And new figures reveal Liverpool was in the top 5% of local authorities in the country for invoking the surveillance law.

In one case on the Wirral, the law was used to try to snare a shopkeeper suspected of selling cigarette papers to under-18s.

The figures were released as the new government announced it wished to “ban the use of powers in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) by councils, unless they are signed off by a magistrate and required for stopping serious crime.”

Liverpool community safety cabinet member Cllr Ann O’Byrne said of the Government’s plans to limit the use of the powers: “It is ironic that it was Liverpool, a Lib- Dem local authority which used these powers, when it is now a Lib-Dem/ Tory Government that is taking the moral high ground and wants to restrict them.”

The council would not give details of the staff spying case, but said it “would only use the powers under RIPA to investigate its staff where there are allegations of an extremely serious nature.” The figures show that prosecution success rates were varied.

On average, only one in six uses of the Act led to action against offenders.

Liverpool council used the Act 101 times in two years, leading to 29 prosecutions.

Wirral council used the powers 13 times, leading to six prosecutions.