Council leader's St Stephen's row

City council leader Carl Minns is locked in a row with St Stephen's after he was stopped from taking photographs – and then got a visit from police.

Although unhappy over the incident, Cllr Minns said he was more annoyed by the centre's decision to refer his details to the police without telling him.

The Liberal Democrat leader, who has been told he will not face any charges, met with a senior police officer earlier this week to discuss what he described as "wider policy issues" relating to the incident.

But he has yet to receive any reply to his original complaint from St Stephen's.

Cllr Minns said: "I had just bought a new camera and was trying it out on my way home when I was approached by a security guard.

"I was standing next to the news kiosk outside St. Stephen's at the time.

"The guard was very polite and professional but he still told me I couldn't take any photographs because it was private property."

Cllr Minns said he subsequently e-mailed a complaint to the shopping centre's management, raising concerns over similar incidents involving members of the public and the potential impact on the image of the city if tourists were also being prevented from taking photographs.

"The next thing I knew was after last week's full council meeting when I got a message that the police wanted to speak to me about an incident outside St Stephen's.

"I'm perfectly happy with the way the police dealt with this but I am still annoyed that St. Stephen's felt it was quite in order to forward my complaint straight to the police."

He said the police had told him St. Stephen's followed guidance laid down by the National Counter Terrorism Security Office which advises shopping centres to look out for people taking pictures or sketches of their security measures.

St Stephen's spokeswoman Kate Mason said: "It is unforgivable that no-one got back to Mr Minns sooner, which we are now in the process of doing.

"The extra vigilance regarding photography is an unfortunate sign of the times in which we live and is standard practice across most public venues, especially shopping centres.

"I think it is important we reassure our customers we are not in the habit of passing on complaints to the police, or any other third party.

"We wanted to provide an in-depth explanation to Mr Minns as to why he had been asked not to take photos but our well-intended plan backfired and we are very sorry."