The Telegraph and Argus report:

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has spent more than £18,000 paying private investigators to spy on six of its staff in recent years.

Last month the Telegraph & Argus revealed that Anthea Orchard, 35, ofDenholme, a former 999 call handler, had left with a £11,000 payoff after discovering she had been spied on while on sick leave.

She was signed off work with stress and hyperthyroidism, and later discovered her bosses had hired private investigators to watch her, believing she was running a balloon business while off sick.

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I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.