Copeland residents are being watched by over a dozen more CCTV cameras than they were in 2019, new figures show.

CCTV cameras have become ubiquitous in the UK's public spaces, with the country one of the most surveilled in the world.

Figures obtained through freedom of information requests by Ironmongery Direct show there were 60 cameras controlled by Copeland Borough Council in summer this year – up from 45 in 2019.

Data from local authorities that provided figures for both years shows the number of cameras used across the UK has increased 15% over three years, from 79,022 to 91,081.

Councils were asked how many CCTV cameras they had in operation as of July 2022, and how many they operated in 2019.

Of the 384 local authorities across the UK, 311 were able to provide data for both years, and a further 31 provided figures for 2022 alone.

Corps Monitoring, a security firm, said that the national rise in CCTV may be due to a fall in the cost of equipment in recent years, alongside the wider availability of high-speed internet.

The London Borough of Hackney had the highest number of cameras of any local authority in the UK, with 3,119 – also holding the top spot in 2019.

Meanwhile Gwynedd, in Wales, saw the largest increase (363%) in the number of CCTV cameras of anywhere in the UK.

Of the councils that were able to provide data, seven in 10 had increased their surveillance, with 16 more than doubling their CCTV presence.

There is little available evidence on whether facial recognition is also being used by local authorities