Tooting Leisure Centre has allayed concerns after a visitor was "disgusted" to discover CCTV cameras in the men and women’s changing rooms.

The man, who does not wish to be identified, said the cameras could infringe privacy issues because they could potentially film people getting undressed.

However a leisure centre spokesman said the cameras only covered the lockers and could not be moved physically to capture images of people changing.

He said footage was password-protected, and could only be accessed by management or police in the event of a criminal offence occurring.

The man said: "That has no cause for comfort at all. I mean in this day and age, being in management does not mean anything.

“It made me angry and disgusted. How do I know that if an attractive person walks past, someone in management is not watching and deciding to follow her, through the cameras, to see when she goes to the changing rooms to take off her clothes? How do you know that?

“It’s unsafe, it’s unethical, but nothing is stopping them from selling the photos or putting them on some channel online.”

The man said he thought it "unusual" after seeing the cameras when coming out of the shower and says that he saw no signs warning people that there was a camera in the changing room.

A Tooting Leisure Centre spokesman said: "These cameras have been in place since at least 2008, they are clearly signposted and were introduced following customer feedback to deter thefts from lockers.

“We would like to reassure customers there is absolutely no question whatsoever of people being filmed getting dressed and undressed in changing rooms as the system does not allow this. The cameras cover only the lockers and cannot be moved and cannot physically capture images of areas where people get changed.

“They are not monitored in any way and images are only accessed by the manager if a locker is broken into or at the request of the police. Accessing the footage requires a special confidential password to be used and any access is automatically logged.

“We appreciate this is a sensitive issue but believe we have struck the right balance in protecting our customers' interests and preventing them falling victims to theft.”