Britons are the most watched people on Earth after a surge in the number of security cameras. We decided to see how often reporter Anna Dowdeswell would be watched in just an hour's trip around the city.

It is staggering how many sets of electronic eyes are watching you in this city. In just an hour mimicking a simple shopping trip carried out by thousands every day, the Oxford Mail came under the gaze of 81 cameras - well over one every minute.

The surveillance started as soon as I got on the bus at Redbridge park and ride. At the bus stop in New Road another camera on the county council headquarters was ready to record my whereabouts.

After slipping past cameras on the pedestrian crossing, I headed up towards Queen Street, stopping off at the library to find the best Christmas cookery books.

It seemed an unlikely place to be spied on, but there were nine cameras on the first floor including one in the children's area. It used to be rude to read over someone's shoulder.

Marks and Spencer was the next stop, where browsing through the women's clothes section had shoppers detected at least seven times. The Clarendon Centre's Queen Street entrance was well watched with two cameras and by using it to cut through to Cornmarket Street my fellow shoppers and I were caught seven times. Stopping off for Christmas gifts at Body Shop, T-Mobile and H Samuel brought the figure to 35.

Boots keeps close tabs on security with no less than 15 cameras on one floor and buying a newspaper from WH Smith can get you caught three times. I couldn't even have lunch in peace - Burger King had five cameras spying on diners as they ate.

The last stop was The New Theatre to pick up pantomime tickets. Wandering down George Street, I saw a dozen cameras, both the city's CCTV system and businesses'.

By the time I arrived back at the park and ride it was a grand total of 81 cameras. The Government's Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said at the end of October 2006 there were 4.2 million CCTV cameras - one for every 14 people in the country - as he voiced concern about the increasing surveillance.

Jen Corlew, spokeswoman for human rights organisation Liberty, said the Mail's findings were not surprising. She said: "The estimate is that every person is caught on camera 300 times a day."

Caroline van Zyl, a Liberal Democrat Marston councillor and member of Lawyers for Liberty, said: "The council does not have CCTV in any residential areas. I think that's quite important because this country has always been known for its freedom and from my position that's something we should never lose."

Speaking about using CCTV to catch criminals, she said: "There is a limited amount of resources that can be used and there is a lot of money being spent on CCTV.

"They can be useful for evidence, but instead of spending money on CCTV more should be spent on getting more police on the streets.

"We are not against the technology but whenever this technology like this is used it should be used responsibly and people's privacy should be respected.

"Where we do have CCTV cameras they are usually born out of request from, for example, police working in the area or residents concerned about crime."