Legal
I am a photographer too. On one occasion a police officer stopped someone nearby from photographing a fire that I was also about to attend as a photographer (with my powerful telephoto zoom lens from a distance I photographed all of the officers attending and submitted the photographs with the appropriate documentation to the Chief Constable). This is why I have paid attention to the legal situation. I recommend that all people intending to photograph anything in public takes a copy of the second link with them, in print, before going out with their camera. Having the URL on your smart phone is not a bad idea too.
People should all go to the first link and send a copy of the second link to the Port of Tyne's legal department. The more the merrier. They cannot ignore it, especially if their department has genuine solicitors and or barristers, because they are bound in law to follow and explain the law to their employers:
http://www.portoftyne.co.uk/contact-us/form/
http://content.met.police.uk/Site/photographyadvice
As has been remarked the two men who stopped the photographer were on a public highway where they had no jurisdiction; they should have reported any security concerns they may have had directly to the police, whose jurisdiction the area is. That is all; there is no argument here at all.
I suspect these men are ex servicemen, and are still gripped by the cold war mentality which meant that photographing these sorts of facilities constituted suspicious behaviour; remember satellite photography did not exist in their day, nor did the new legislation. I recommend the mail cops attend a long period of CPD on the matter of photography and (physical) legal boundaries, jurisdictions and the rights of private individuals.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
