Things change a little if you are on private property (such as shopping malls) or on some government sites (described as “prohibited places” under the Official Secrets acts). Here you can either be asked to leave (private property) or arrested for trespass (prohibited places).

Even in both these circumstances the pictures shouldn’t be deleted as this falls foul of the evidence handling requirements of PACE2000.

The scary thing is that PCSOs (and some police officers) are not aware of the basics of English Law. Add in the inevitable ignorance of the public and we may soon see a case where ignorance creates a new set of laws.