Security services say they have no way of establishing how many of the gnomes, sold at garden centres nationwide since 2019, remain in British gardens undetected.

By Our Security Correspondent · 21 August 2026 · China Watch

MI5 has opened a review into a consignment of Chinese-manufactured garden gnomes after a random customs sample found the ornaments’ solar-powered blinking eyes — marketed as a novelty feature that activates when movement is detected — concealed a small cavity behind each pupil “consistent with, though not confirmed as,” a camera housing and sim card slot.

The gnomes have been sold in garden centres and DIY chains across the country since 2019, with one retailer estimating they had shifted “a few thousand” over that period. A security source said the review had no practical means of establishing how many remained in circulation, since the gnomes were sold individually, with no registration of any kind, and most owners would have no reason to ever look behind the eyes.

Barry Considine, of Kettering, said he owned three of the gnomes and had always assumed the blinking was “just for show.” Told of the investigation, he said he wasn’t especially worried, on the grounds that his was positioned facing the bird feeder and “whoever’s watching is in for a very boring few years.”

A spokesperson for the garden centre chain that stocked the gnomes said the blinking-eye feature had been “extremely popular,” and admitted he had personally noticed the blink was accompanied by a faint clicking sound not unlike a camera shutter, but had put it down to “being what you get for £12.99.”

Asked whether the gnome currently on display outside Thames House had itself been checked, a spokesperson for the security services said they were “not going to comment on operational matters.”