WEST Mercia Police has admitted officers were wrong to arrest a YouTuber who was filming one of the force's stations.

A video posted on the Auditing Britain channel shows the moment the content creator was handcuffed under the Terrorism Act, saying he was "locked up for five hours" after filming Kidderminster police station.

The apology comes months after a similar incident in Hereford, with the officer in question "spoken to" about his behaviour.

The YouTuber, known by the alias AB, who was filming in the Worcestershire town on January 11, had previously received a £1,500 payout from police to settle a complaint after he was detained and searched by officers after filming Redditch police station in September 2020.

OTHER NEWS:

He says his goal is to "both educate and entertain by expressing the right to film matters of public interest."

On Tuesday (January 11), AB decided to film what turn out to be a 17-minute long video around the Kidderminster area, including the police station.

He said he wasn't filming the police station but was in the area when two women, who later reveal themselves to be police officers in plainclothes, follow him to the front of the police station.

After a brief exchange, two more officers, in uniform, then approach the group and question AB about filming around the station.

AB says he was “making a video of the police” and filming “matters of public interest.”

After an argument, AB asked if he was being detained. DC Bills later said she was detaining him under the Terrorism Act, but did not say under which section of the act.

He was then handcuffed by officers, taken to the police station, and the filming was stopped.

Later in the video, AB said: “I couldn’t believe it. I did not expect that at all, definitely not from West Mercia Police.

“Especially after I made the civil claim against them and I actually won.”

When he was taken into custody he says a police officer, who previously detained AB after filming Redditch Station, arrived at the station.

He then claimed officers “locked me in for five hours.”

OTHER NEWS:

Head of West Mercia Police’s Professional Standards Department, Superintendent Rebecca Love, has since said: “We’re aware of a video circulating on social media filmed on Tuesday 11 January where our officers spoke to and detained a man outside Kidderminster police station.

“Our officers deal with hundreds of interactions with the public on a daily basis with the majority doing so professionally and fairly, however, we acknowledge that on occasions we do get it wrong.

“We have reviewed the footage and recognise this situation could have been better managed by our officers. We are genuinely sorry for this, and would like to apologise to the man involved.”

But back in July 2021, there was a similar incident when a video filmed at the back of the police station in Gaol Street showed an officer, not in uniform, telling the YouTuber to "sort your life out".

In response to the video, Herefordshire police commander Superintendent Edd Williams said the officer had been spoken to about his behaviour.

"Whilst anyone can legally film in a public place there are security and safety considerations around filming police buildings," he said.

"Our officers are trained to measure the threat, harm and risk of incidents and act accordingly, and where necessary will challenge individuals.

“However, while it is only right that officers do challenge individuals this should be done in a friendly, professional and appropriate manner."