Town halls are routinely using controversial spy laws to obtain private data to assist investigations into suspected offences by residents.

These offences include dog smuggling, storing petrol without permission and keeping unburied animal carcasses.

The disclosure follows uproar earlier this year when it emerged that councils were using surveillance in cases of dog fouling and the misuse of disabled parking badges.

In a survey for the Daily Mail newspaper of about a third of councils, town halls admitted looking at the private data of 936 people under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act.

Applied to all 468 councils in the UK, the findings suggest about 3,000 individuals have been targeted in the last year.

Among those disclosing that they had accessed billing information was Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.

It used the Act six times to try to identify and locate a bogus faith healer. Kent County Council conducted 23 checks as it looked into illegal petrol storage and the smuggling of a dog.

The Act allows councils to undertake surveillance if they suspect criminal activity and to ask for the subscriber details of internet and telephone bills.

But it has been heavily criticised by civil liberties campaigners and opposition parties.