A stunned security guard foiled a pervert’s plan by finding a hidden camera in a shopping centre toilet.

Adedeji Adebanwo discovered the device in the facilities for Maidstone’s Matalan and Lidl shoppers and alerted police immediately.

The covert camera had a USB slot and memory card.

Mr Adebanwo, head of security at the Broadway Shopping Centre, said: “I went to use the toilet myself and I noticed what looked like an air freshener, which was strange.

“Anything like that has to be approved by me and we don’t have air fresheners. It isn’t something we would have.”

The camera is a small white unit in the shape of a clothes hook with sticky back plastic for it to be attached to a wall.

The hook had been snapped off and stuck to a white tiled wall within the toilet by the voyeur.

Mr Adebanwo said: “A customer using the toilet would have had no idea that it was a camera.

“I find it disgusting. We have a lot of public toilets in Maidstone and everybody needs to check them.”

It is unknown how long the camera had been in place at the single cubicle loo, which is used by hundreds of shoppers each day.

Now Mr Adebanwo is urging shop owners and members of the public to be on the lookout for similar pieces of equipment.

He said: “Straight away when I saw it I knew it was a hidden camera. Both adults and children use that toilet. It’s sick.

“If they are in the toilets at this shopping centre then you don’t know where else they are being put.”

The creepy cameras can be bought for as little as £10 from various websites and are activated by a motion sensor.

There is a tiny lens just above the hook. More expensive models come equipped with HD cameras.

A spokesman for JLL, the property manager of the Broadway Shopping Centre, said: “The matter has been reported to the local police and we are helping them with their inquires.”

A police spokesman said: “We urge anyone who finds suspicious items to report them by calling Kent Police on 101. Always call 999 in an emergency.”