Minister's pledge on football disaster documents

Officials were forced to issue a statement saying there was "no truth whatsoever" in reports that suggested Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was "taking a new look at the issue" and would narrow the terms of reference for releasing documents.

The claims – which came days after Mr Hunt was forced to apologise for apparently linking the tragedy to hooliganism – caused fury among Labour MPs and prompted Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham to raise his concerns in the House of Commons, demanding "full disclosure" of documents so families of the 96 Liverpool fans who died could find out the full truth about the 1989 disaster.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: "The Secretary of State has apologised for any offence that his comments may have caused to Liverpool fans and the families of those killed and injured in the Hillsborough disaster.

"There is no truth whatsoever in the assertion that the terms of reference are being narrowed. Jeremy is fully supportive of the Hillsborough Independent Panel and is meeting the families to discuss its work."

The Hillsborough Independent Panel, led by the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones, was set up to study previously secret documents relating to the tragedy at Sheffield Wednesday's stadium during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in April 1989.

It met for the first time in February, and its remit is to oversee the public disclosure of archives held by the emergency services, the city council and other public bodies in Sheffield.

But after the report that suggested there could be a re-think over the scope of the documents to be released, Mr Burnham, who had been at the forefront of the campaign to open up the secret files, responded furiously.

He told the Yorkshire Post: "I pushed against the odds to get the Hillsborough Independent Panel established. I really had to go against a lot of resistance.

"Nothing is more important to me. I will not rest until we get full and complete disclosure. If they're back-tracking we will take this to the highest level."

An official inquiry led by Lord Justice Taylor, which reported in 1990, criticised senior police officers on duty at the match for a "failure of control" and recommended the introduction of all-seater stadiums, but families have always been denied access to the files which they hope will reveal exactly what happened.

Earlier this week Mr Hunt apologised after saying in an interview he was "incredibly encouraged by the example set by the England fans. I mean, not a single arrest for a football-related offence, and the terrible problems that we had in Heysel and Hillsborough in the 1980s seem now to be behind us".