PLANS to charge up to £600 to obtain secret documents under the new Freedom of Information Act have sparked a protest from a Hampshire MP.

Liberal Democrat David Chidgey, pictured, has condemned the sky-high fees as a barrierto the public's right to know and a broken government promise.

The Eastleigh MP is pressing ministers to back down and cut the charges.

When Tony Blair vowed to end government secrecy by unlocking Whitehall filing cabinets he pledged to charge the public only ten per cent of the cost of their requests. That would have led to bills of between £7.50 and £60, depending on how long it took to trace files.

The Treasury was accused of sabotaging the new laws when it announced plans to recover 90 per cent of the cost, based on officials charging £25 per hour. It is feared that only large organisations will be able to afford to ask for information - which will become available from January - rather than ordinary people.

Mr Chidgey is among 173 who have signed a parliamentary motion demanding a climbdown and genuine "openness". One of the motives for the increased charges is believed to be the fear that officials may be deluged by requests - not all of them serious.

MPs are pressing ministers to agree a scheme linked to a person's income,with the least well-off exempt from charges altogether.

One Westminster source said: "Even if it costs £100 to make an application, that's an enormous amount of money for people of limited means who, perhaps, might be defending their own case."

At present, requests for certain categories of information under the open government code, introduced by John Major, are usually free.

The Freedom of Information Act was meant to remove many of the restrictions left in place by the Conservatives but has also been attacked as too timid.