The Metropolitan Police has admitted that a reporter who asked for further details of how the force secretly viewed journalists phone records to find sources was not being "vexatious".

Like Press Gazette, Matt Burgess, the author of a book on FoI, asked the Met to disclose the information it had given to the Interception of Communications Commissioner's Office for its inquiry into police spying on journalists' phone records under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

His request was rejected under section 14(1) of the act and described as "vexatious" by the Met. This decision was upheld by the Met after it conducted an internal review of the decision.