A STAFFORDSHIRE MP told the House of Commons that a parliamentary investigation into phone hacking had been met by "a wall of silence".

Newcastle MP Paul Farrelly said he was "incredulous" about problems faced by an inquiry carried out in February by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, of which he was a member.

It related to an incident in 2007 when two reporters from the News of the World were sent to prison after being convicted of "hacking" into the voicemail of members of the royal family.

It emerged that the pair had also had pin numbers which allowed them to hack into the messages of dozens of other well-known public figures.

Andy Coulson, then editor of the newspaper, maintained he knew nothing about the hacking but resigned. Mr Coulson went on to become David Cameron's head of communications.

When Mr Farrelly's committee carried out its inquiry, the journalists involved in the scandal, along with high-ranking executives from the News of the World's parent company, News Corporation, refused to give evidence.

Last week, new material emerged suggesting that Mr Coulson had known about the phone hacking, although he still denies any involvement or knowledge of the issue.

In the Commons yesterday Mr Farrelly, a former journalist himself, said: "We tried to penetrate the veil of secrecy over this affair but we generally met with a wall of silence, we met with evasion, we met with collective amnesia."