Parents have been banned from filming their children playing football because of paedophile fears.

The owners of activity centre Westows in Hove have adopted the policy in line with leisure centres run by Brighton and Hove City Council.

Amy Butler, of The Drive, Hove, was filming her son Haydn, six, playing football at the centre when she was told to stop because it might upset other parents.

She said: "I had been filming Haydn for about ten minutes when somebody tapped me on the shoulder and told me it was not allowed.

"I asked why and they told me it was company policy because of concerns about paedophiles.

"I was very shocked and pretty upset. Being told to stop filming my own son playing sport was very offensive. It should be my right as a parent to record such moments as Haydn grows up.

"Watching and filming your children playing sport is one of the joys of being a parent. That should not be taken away because of a minority of badly behaved people.

"We will not be allowed to film our children in the park or on the beach next. It is disgusting."

Westows in School Road has no swimming pool and consists of an adventure play area for under-11s as well as indoor football pitches.

Director James Field said the policy was in place to protect children.

He said: "It is a real shame but we have taken this stance as a matter of principle to protect the children who come here.

"When we opened we decided we would not allow people to film children if other customers had a problem with it.

"Several people have since expressed their concern, so we decided not to allow it, other than in private parties.

"In our line of work we have to be very careful and make sure we always put the children first. We appreciate some parents may not be happy with the situation but we must look at the overall picture."

A council spokeswoman said: "We have a blanket policy on the issue that any children swimming or playing in the public domain cannot be filmed.

"You cannot have eyes in the back of your head to know exactly who is filming."

Monday September 15, 2003