A care home worker alleged to have secretly filmed elderly residents and threatened to sell the footage to the press is being sued in the High Court by his former employers.

Yourdon Antonov also photographed residents while working at Heatherwood Nursing Home in Foxley Lane, Purley, where he worked from November 2010 until he was fired in January this year, according to a High Court writ.

In papers submitted to the court, the nursing home claim Mr Antonov, who doctored some of the photographs, violated residents' right to privacy and breached a confidentiality clause in his contract.

It said disclosure of the doctored photographs "threatens the continued operation of the home"
The home's owners are claiming £50,000 in damages for breach of contract.

They are also seeking an injunction at the Royal Courts of Justice requiring Mr Antonov to hand over all the recordings and photographs and destroy any electronic copies.

It is not clear what the footage allegedly captured by Mr Antonov shows.

He was dismissed from his job at the nursing home, which provides nursing and personal care for elderly and infirm residents, after making "false and malicious allegations" against a fellow member of staff, according to the writ.

The court papers submitted by the home's solicitors state the confidentiality clause in Mr Antonov's contract remains enforceable even after the termination of the contract.

They add that a staff notice board at the nursing home made it clear employees were prohibited from "recording, videoing or taking still images of anything on the premises".

A date has not yet been set for the court hearing.

Neither the nursing home nor Mr Antonov responded to requests for comment.