Gordon Brown has alleged News International used "known criminals" to get access to personal information when Labour was in power, in an exclusive interview with the BBC.

The former prime minister accused the newspaper group of having links to the "criminal underworld".

He also told BBC correspondent Glenn Campbell that he was "in tears" over reports published in the Sun, revealing that his son Fraser has cystic fibrosis.

The Sun maintains that the information was not obtained by illegal means.