A mother has spoken of her anger after a 12-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of filming families getting changed at Ashford’s Stour Centre.

Carly Schofield, 26, had taken her daughters Danni, five, and Tia, four, to the Stour Centre for a swim last Saturday afternoon when they noticed they were being watched by a boy.

Miss Schofield, of Willesborough, says he pursued them into the changing rooms and then she caught him peeking under a cubicle door, filming a family with young children undressing on his mobile phone.

She told the Kentish Express: "We had seen this boy following us around and he must have been in there for around two hours that we knew of.

He followed us when we went to get changed and kept looking at my children.

"I tried to let someone know but couldn’t find anyone and then as we were leaving I saw him on all fours filming under another family’s cubicle."

Miss Schofield knocked on the door and alerted the stunned family and the boy ran off.

When the Stour Centre’s management caught up with him, he is said to have denied doing anything inappropriate.

The police were called to the Station Road Approach leisure centre and took the boy and his mother away.

Miss Schofield and her children had a three-hour wait before being asked to give a statement.

She was told later that night that the 12-year-old had been released without charge.

The full-time mum added: "We’ve been trying to phone the Stour Centre and they keep saying they will get back to me but we still haven’t heard anything.

"We haven’t received an apology from them and no one has told us whether this boy has been banned from the pool or not."

Police spokesman Rosy Alexander confirmed that a 12-year-old local boy was arrested at the Stour Centre following accusations of voyeurism.

She told the Kentish Express that he was given a reprimand and released.

Chief executive of Ashford Leisure Trust Emma Wood, which runs the Stour Centre, says the trust has no intention of banning the boy from the pool.

She said: "We’re aware of the situation which was reported by one of the families involved.

"We took the boy away and took both of the families into another area.

"The police were called as was the mother of the child and they were taken away.

"We’re seeking clarification on what has happened with regards to the investigation.

"We do not intend banning the child from the centre but we will be referring it to the board and a further decision might be made.

"We don’t regularly ban people because we want to make sure everyone can benefit from it but obviously I need to take guidance from the police.

"On behalf of the trust I of course apologise for the upset caused and we will take appropriate action so this does not happen in the future."