Council bosses can use Facebook to snoop on residents they suspect of committing an offence.

New guidelines have been added to Cumbria County Council’s surveillance rule book on the issue and approved by leaders.

The regulations allow county council staff to glean information from personal social media account pages as an alternative to carrying out direct surveillance.

Council bosses approved the move at a meeting as they discussed the authority’s latest inspection by the government’s Interception of Communication Commissioner’s Office.

The council’s director of resources and transformation, Dawn Roberts, said the move came about as a result of a recent inspection of the way the authority conducts surveillance.

It discovered the council had not requested a warrant under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act since its last inspection in 2013.

She said: “The inspectors noted that we have not made use of the powers since we were last inspected in 2013.

“They made two recommendations – the need for more guidelines over the use of the internet and social media sites and with concern to test purchases through trading standards.”

“We now have a pretty robust policy on the two issues picked up by the inspection team.”

The county council is entitled to investigate anyone who is suspected of committing an offence, which can include selling licensed or counterfeit goods.

The new guidelines written by county council officers allow the authority’s team of information gatherers to view an individual’s “overt” social media accounts during an investigation on a “one-off occasion”.

They also state the council employee may have to create a “covert” account of their own to undertake the online surveillance.

And if someone is set to make contact with a resident through social media, they may have to assume a new identity – known as a Covert Human Intelligence Source.

However, regular visits to a personal page in a bid to gain evidence about a person could breach their Article 8 rights – and will require a court order authorised by a judge, the new guidelines add.

Council leader Stewart Young said: “These are fairly minor issues.

“I think this legislation is more contentious at district council level than county council – it seems to be used when people are putting the wrong rubbish in the bin or are not recycling.

“These are not functions the county council is responsible for.”