While civil liberties watchdogs and media commentators lament Britain's decline into an Orwellian surveillance-state, with the average citizen estimated to be caught on CCTV more than 300 times a day, it seems the population is becoming inured to the point where it is happy to add its own cameras to the system.

The sales of CCTV units to private households is booming. Maplins, the high street electronics retailer, has recorded a 70 per cent rise in sales of domestic security cameras in the past year alone. Browsing their online catalogue reveals more than 90 security camera and CCTV kits available, ranging in price from £29.99 to the £149.99 BlackKnight model. You can even buy an 'authentic' camera casing to use as a dummy.

Last month, Privacy International classified the UK as an 'endemic surveillance society', ranking it the worst country in the EU for surveillance and placing it on a par with such repressive states as Russia, China and Malaysia. In Britain between £150-300m a year is spent on the surveillance industry, and this figure now includes the growing number of households installing CCTV in an effort to keep homes secure. The result is that 20 per cent of the world's CCTV cameras are now in the UK.

But there is a flipside to the antis' argument - neatly illustrated by yesterday's conviction of three teenagers for the murder of the father-of-three, Gary Newlove. The gang, who killed the 48-year-old under the influence of skunk cannabis and alcohol, were caught on a household CCTV installed by a neighbour of Newlove.

It is understood to be the first instance of a privately owned camera providing evidence for such a high-profile case in the UK and it is hardly surprising that Maplins should exploit the moment to report its booming sales. The world's most highly monitored country won't be getting rid of Big Brother just yet.