The chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation has called for the introduction of a photography code.

Peter Smyth said the Federation shared concerns expressed by photographers about Section 76 of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 which creates a new offence of eliciting, publishing or communicating information about the Armed Forces, intelligence services or police which may be used by terrorists.

It follows protests in the capital yesterday outside New Scotland Yard on the day Act became law, reports Media Lawyer.

Professional and amateur photographers say the new law gives police the power to stop and search them at any opportunity, under the pretext they might doing something "useful to someone preparing to committing an act of terrorism".

Mr Smyth said he was supporting a call by Grimsby MP Austin Mitchell for a photography code to be drawn up by the Home Office and professional bodies.

He said the Code "should be to facilitate photography wherever possible, rather than seek reasons to bar it".

"Police and photographers share the streets and the Met Federation earnestly wants to see them doing so harmoniously," he added.

"Good relationships between the police and media benefit everyone, including the public, which both sides exist to serve.

"As things stand, there is a real risk of photographers being hampered in carrying out their legitimate work and of police officers facing opprobrium for carrying out what they genuinely, if mistakenly, believe are duties imposed on them by the law."

The Home Office argues the new powers are intended to help protect those in the front line of counter terrorism operations and that photographing police officers would not be an offence except in "very exceptional circumstances".