SENIOR Thames Valley Police chiefs are refusing to say whether they know if their officers have been using an anti-terrorism law to discover journalists’ secret sources.

Police forces have been criticised this month after it was discovered they had been using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) to seize journalists’ phone records to identify who they had been talking to.

Home Secretary Theresa May has signalled she wants abuse of the act – drawn up by Parliament to target terrorists – to stop.

Thames Valley Police had twice snooped on journalists to discover their sources in the past, but last week refused to say if they had used RIPA on any other occasions.

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It said it would not check the files covering more than 50,000 RIPA applications.

The Oxford Mail asked if any senior Thames Valley officers could remember any time journalists had been targeted to discover their sources. Spokesman Michelle Campbell refused to answer.

However, Assistant Chief Constable John Campbell, who oversees the force’s use of RIPA, said Thames Valley would supply a national inquiry about any investigation in the past three years where journalists’ records had been obtained.

He said: “We ensure that all RIPA authorising officers within TVP [are satisfied] that all applications meet the criteria laid out within the legislation, outlining in their authorisation how the activity is both necessary and proportionate.”

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