Police picture of Michael McIntyre taken from helicopter spy camera under investigation

A picture tweeted by a police helicopter team showing comedian Michael McIntyre standing in a London street is being investigated by the Information Commissioner's Office for a possible breach of data protection laws.

Michael McIntyre was snapped using a surveillance camera outside the Global Radio offices in Leicester Square at around 8am this morning.

The photo, posted on the National Police Air Service's London twitter account, was captioned: "Whilst on tasking in central London this morning we spotted a certain energetic funny man ... Can you guess who?"

Surveillance Camera Commissioner Tony Porter said he believed the post was a breach of the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, the 12-point code established in June 2013 to ensure the surveillance system was used for legitimate purposes.

Mr Porter has contacted the Metropolitan Police, which has overall responsibility for NPAS in London, to discuss the matter.

But many Twitter users also responded, asking if they'd broken privacy laws.

In a statement, Met Police said:

A spokesman for McIntyre said there would be no comment from the star.

The comedian is due to perform a gig at the Ipswich Regent tonight as a warm-up to his Happy And Glorious UK and Ireland tour.

By lunchtime the image had been deleted from the NPAS London Twitter account.