DOES your pot plant have pests, is your fridge energy efficient, or are you practising unregulated hypnotism?

Almost 1,000 snooping council officers in Hampshire have the power to come into your home if they think the answer to any of those questions might be yes.

The officials have the authority to enter properties at a moment’s notice without a warrant or police escort.

Campaigners Big Brother Watch argue the numbers show the citizens’ right to privacy has been completely undermined.

The group used the Freedom of Information Act to ask every local council in the country for details on how many of their officers have been given the power to enter people’s homes, based on the authorities granted under 1,043 different laws.

Nationally, 316 authorities responded, admitting they have a total of 14,793 — an average of 47 each.

But the true figure could be almost 20,000, because 115 councils refused to answer.

In Hampshire, seven authorities have higher than average numbers of officers holding powers of entry.

Test Valley Borough Council, which was recently criticised for spending £91,000 on two new waste advisors, dubbed ‘bin police’ because of fears they will spy on what residents are throwing away, employs 113 people authorised to gain access to people’s homes or premises.

Elsewhere, Southampton City Council has 76,Winchester City Council 58, and Hampshire County Council 56.

Whilst some of the powers are for what most would consider worthwhile reasons, like checking the conditions children are living in, looking for counterfeit goods, or ensuring safety standards in workplaces, others seem slightly less reasonable.

Some of the more bizarre reasons include the authority to enter a home to ensure illegal or unregulated hypnotism isn’t taking place, to check if a hedge is too high, and to see if work is being carried out in connection with atomic energy or research.

Alex Deane, director of Big Brother Watch, said he fears the system is open to abuse, as when councils like the Borough of Poole, in Dorset, used antiterrorist legislation to spy on parents suspected of lying on school applications.

“Once, a man’s home was his castle,” he said.

“Today the Big Brother state wants to inspect, regulate and standardise the inside of our homes.

“Councils are dishing out powers of entry to officers within their council for their own ease, without giving due thought to the public’s right to privacy and the potential for abuse.

“There needs to be a much closer eye kept on the number of officers granted the right to barge into private premises without a warrant.”