Jim Paice Conservative MP for South East Cambridgeshire.

SOHAM MP James Paice has reacted angrily to allegations that phones belonging to the parents of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman may have been hacked by journalists.

Mr Paice, the Minister of State for Farming and Rural Affairs, labelled the allegations that investigators working for the News of the World may have listened to private voicemails “truly appalling” and called on police to launch an urgent investigation.

He said: “I condemn all phone hacking and these latest allegations concerning the parents of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, as well as Milly Dowler, are truly appalling and need to be investigated urgently and thoroughly by the relevant authorities . “Should they be proven then I hope that swift and decisive action will be taken against the perpetrators. If true, these allegations are evidence that investigative journalism has sunk to an altogether new low.”

The allegations surfaced on Tuesday in the wake of claims that the parents of murdered teenager Milly Dowler were also hacked during the police investigation into her disappearance in 2002.