The Information Commissioner is to investigate after Liverpool City Council officials went through the mobile phone records of an elected member, it has been confirmed.

Council officials went through the phone logs of Labour opposition leader Joe Anderson as part of an inquiry into a leak.

The officials were aiming to find out who supplied information to journalists about the spiralling cost of a recent concert by Sir Paul McCartney.

On Wednesday, Liverpool City Council apologised to Mr Anderson and referred the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

A spokesman for the Liberal Democrat-controlled authority said: “Following the unauthorised leaking of a highly confidential and commercially sensitive report, a number of officers and members were asked to cooperate with an internal investigation into the breach, which involved emails being checked.

“However, we omitted to notify the individuals concerned that it also included mobile phone records.

“We have apologised to Councillor Anderson and have taken steps to ensure this cannot happen again. The council has also reported the matter to the Office of the Information Commissioner.”

The council said a “small number” of elected members’ phone logs were searched but none were informed of the plan beforehand.

Mr Anderson said: “It is outrageous that somebody had given permission for my phone calls to be monitored in such a way.

“I have contacted my solicitor. I want to know who gave the permission and why and I want that person disciplined.”

The investigation of Liverpool City Council for studying a councillor’s phone records is the latest in a series of local authority “snooping” controversies.

In April, Poole Borough Council in Dorset spied on a family suspected of breaking rules on school catchment areas.

Council officers followed the 39-year-old mother and her three children and even watched the family home at night to ensure they were telling the truth about where they lived.

The action was taken under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa).

The legislation, designed to combat terrorism, is being increasingly used by councils to snoop on residents and their phone records for apparently minor alleged offences.

Some local authorities have used covert surveillance to investigate such offences as dog fouling and under-age smoking, it has been reported.

Ripa was passed in 2000 and originally only nine organisations, including the police and the security services, were allowed to use it.

Several hundred organisations are now covered by it including 474 councils.

Bolton Council used the act to check a person’s mobile phone records as part of an inquiry into unburied animal carcasses.

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands conducted 16 phone and email checks, six involving attempts to trace and identify an alleged bogus faith healer.

Kent County Council used it to investigate people allegedly storing petrol without a licence and a resident suspected of bringing a dog into the country without it being put through quarantine.

It has all prompted civil rights groups to call for reform of Ripa with Liberty suggesting its use should have to be signed off by a judge, and Privacy International calling for an overhaul of surveillance laws.