Surveillance: Barrister called in to review Met phone tap evidence

Keir Starmer said any evidence from "recent or new substantive allegations" will be assessed by a senior barrister as part of an ongoing inquiry into material already held by Scotland Yard.

The decision means officials at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) could advise the Met to reopen the inquiry into fresh claims that the mobile phones of high-profile individuals were hacked.

It follows claims that former Prime Minister Gordon Brown contacted the Met last summer to ask if his phone had also been targeted.

His office has declined to comment on the reports which also suggested other newspapers also used phone hacking.

The evidence review, overseen by Alison Levitt QC, may yet also lead to lawyers deciding that enough evidence already exists to bring charges against others implicated in the scandal.

In a statement, Mr Starmer said he has asked Ms Levitt to take a "robust approach" to her review of hundreds of documents and subsequent advice to senior police officers or prosecutors.

Mr Starmer said: "I have asked Alison Levitt QC (who has had no previous involvement in the case) to take a robust approach with a view to advising whether the Metropolitan Police Service should carry out any further investigation or deciding whether any prosecutions can be brought.

"This builds upon the previous request by the MPS to the CPS to assess all the material relevant to phone hacking."

The Met has come under intense pressure to reopen its investigation into the phone hacking scandal following the departure of Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson who faced a barrage of difficult questions about his conduct while editor of the News of the World.

The paper's former royal correspondent, Clive Goodman, was jailed in 2007 along with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.