A WOMAN who claims she saw a policeman driving in Christchurch holding a digital camera instead of the steering wheel is furious after she was told police are exempt from rules governing the road.

Lorraine Laird, 41, from Throop, said she could not believe her eyes when she spotted the police car moving slowly along the road and the driver holding a digital camera with both hands, photographing the road ahead.

But a police spokesman yesterday refuted the claims, stating the officer was taking pictures of a robbery scene and had stopped the vehicle before using the camera.

Lorraine told the Echo she was in her car, waiting to pull out of Hunt Road on the Somerford estate after visiting her mother, when the car drove past her.

"He had both hands on the camera rather than the wheel.

"God knows what he was doing.

"I mean, this is a residential estate with lots of families and young children.

"Anything could happen," she said.

Angered by what she saw, Lorraine stopped off at Christchurch Police Station to report the matter, where she was told the police are exempt from action regarding matters such as this.

She said: "I was and still am so incensed by this.

"I don't understand the thinking behind it.

"Just because he is a policeman does not mean he is exempt from having an accident, no matter how good a driver he is."

"Children do unpredictable things and he was driving alone, so there wasn't anyone else watching the road for him. It's outrageous."

Lorraine added: "What's the difference between a motorist using a mobile phone and a police officer using a digital camera whilst driving slowly down a road?"

A police spokesman said: "The police officer was investigating a robbery and stopped the vehicle each time before taking still pictures through the car windscreen using a digital camera.

"Police are subject to the same laws and regulations as normal road users with certain statutory exemptions in relation to speed, red lights and keep left or right signs and officers and staff are not exempt from prosecution in relation to using handheld mobile phones."