COUNCIL chiefs in York and North Yorkshire have been given controversial new powers to access the public's mobile phone records, in a move that has sparked outrage from privacy campaigners.

Scarcely-publicised legislation that has just been passed into UK law means 795 public bodies, including local authorities, can demand to see who an individual has phoned and when within the past 12 months.

But today leading councillors in our region moved to reassure the public that they saw little benefit in the powers and did not envisage using them.

Steve Galloway, leader of City of York Council, said: "I cannot think of a reason why the council would need that sort of information.

"Police could have a legitimate reason for needing that information, but I would say it is more than unlikely that it's a facility that the city council would wish to make any use of."

Carl Les, executive member for corporate services at North Yorkshire County Council, said: "This matter has not yet been considered by the council. However, speaking personally, I would say that I would support the police and security services' right to go into phone records as part of their investigations. But I am not convinced it is applicable to councils, especially the county council, with the exception of investigating fraud."

But Coun Galloway said: "In terms of fraud, who rang whom at what time is not a matter of any great significance, because invariably it would be who wrote what at what time, because we do not deal with benefit claims over the phone - we do inquiries, but not claims."

He added: "Apart from anything else, the council's resources are stretched and setting up new systems to deal with that type of information is not something we could readily afford. You can safely take it that we will be concentrating on our core business."

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: "Police access to communications data is strictly controlled by the Regulation Of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and takes into account human rights legislation, including the right to privacy. The reasons for accessing the data must meet stringent criteria and must be proportionate to the inquiry, necessary and justifiable.

"Authority to gain access must be authorised at superintendent level. Police forces are inspected annually by the Interception Of Communications Commissioner's Office to ensure that these rules are strictly adhered to."

Phil Booth, national co-ordinator of No2ID said: "When this idea was first discussed by Charles Clarke, it was about national security and serious crime - what good is it to a local authority? I find it hard to understand how local councils fall under the national security justification."

He said it was arguable that police investigating serious crime could need access to such information, but added: "You cannot have carte blanche for people working in local authorities across the country."