A customer at a south London Starbucks has complained to police after finding a spy camera hidden in an air vent above a toilet
Ricci Arcari tweeted video of the matchbox-sized device on Wednesday after discovering it behind a grille in the only customer toilet provided at the Vauxhall branch.
He said the discovery was “very distressing and totally disgusting”.
The 33-year-old, who is a regular at the South Lambeth Place branch, told the Evening Standard that he went into the coffeeshop on Tuesday and was using the toilet when he spyed the camera.
“I panicked a little bit, stopped doing what I was doing, closed the toilet lid and jumped up to have a look.
“I wanted to make sure it was what it was so I poked and prodded it a few times with my pinky and ran out and got the manager.”
Police have been notified and are investigating.
It is not known how long the device had been recording or why.
Arcari told the Standard that he was “shocked” by the discovery.
“You always think of creepy people doing something like this but you don’t think that it would actually happen.
“That cubicle is used by everyone. A mother or father will be like, that’s fine for their children, it’s a cubicle which is secure.”
Starbucks said the device was removed as soon as they were made aware of it and police were contacted.
Starbucks said in a statement: “This is a distressing discovery for our partners (employees) and customers, and we take our responsibility to provde a safe environment very seriously.
“As soon as the store was made aware of this, we removed the device and contacted the police who are investigating the incident.”