A CCTV system that can pick out people showing unusually high levels of stress and aggression is being tested in the Moscow metro, the newspaper Izvestia reported on Tuesday.

The St Petersburg-developed system, VibraImage, has a range of uses, including monitoring people’s health and apparent emotional state.

Metro security professionals want to install the technology to combat terrorism and other kinds of crime, but suggest it might need further development to deal with the volume of passenger flow.

The central Okhotny Ryad metro station, near the Kremlin, Duma, Red Square and Manezh Square, has been chosen as the test site.

Metro staff shared their concerns about the system with Izvestia, saying it struggled to differentiate between people who appear to be suffering high levels of stress and those dressed in a particularly expressive manner.

Staff say they have not yet been given any guidance on how those the system identifies should be handled, Izvestia adds.

The director of the company behind VibraImage, Viktor Minkin, said the system has also been installed in St Petersburg's Pulkovo, and Moscow's Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo airports.