JACK Straw is to ask police to hand over any files they have on his mobile phone being hacked.

The Blackburn MP did not rule out legal action after it was reported he had been targeted by a private detective working for a tabloid newspaper.

The hacking is believed to have taken place when he was Home Secretary, which was between 1997 and 2001.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair and Kate Middleton were also reported to have been hacked.

Mr Straw told the Lancashire Telegraph: “I had not been aware of it before.

“This is the first time the allegation has been made in respect of me.

“I was slightly surprised that I had not been on a list already, given how many people had been. Whatever I was saying would have been of interest to people.

“I’m afraid I am not surprised, given the absence of any moral compass by red top newspapers in those days.”

Mr Straw said he was going to write to Britain’s top policeman, Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson, the Bacup-born former Lancashire Chief Constable, to ask how much information about him is held.

Asked whether he would follow a string of public figures who have taken legal action over the phone hacking saga, Mr Straw said: “I will have to see. I need to find out first what they have on me.”

The revelation came after Labour MP Tom Watson said in Parliament that Mr Blair had been targeted by private detective Jonathan Rees.

He told MPs: “The convicted private investigator Jonathan Rees, a contractor to News International, targeted former prime minister Tony Blair for covert surveillance, and at least one former home secretary.”