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North East councils have raked in more than £130,000 by flogging your data to credit rating agencies and political parties, it has been revealed.

Jehovah’s Witnesses and individuals running for election are among those willing to pay hundreds of pounds a go to access electoral roll information held by councils.

Local authorities keep a record of registered voters’ names and addresses and are obliged to sell it to outside parties if they are authorised to view it under the law.

According to the Electoral Commission, only Government departments and credit rating agencies can purchase the full register but various groups and individuals can buy limited amounts of information.

The amount local authorities charge is directly linked to the size of the electorate, pushing up the price for big council areas.

Durham County Council has brought in the most money, raising £48,802 from selling people’s personal details since the beginning of 2012.

It is also responsible for the single highest value transaction, selling “full electoral register” to an unnamed credit rating agency for £2,301 in October 2012.

Freedom of Information requests to the North East’s seven local authorities reveal a total of £132,134.40 was raised in this way in the past five years.

The actual number could be higher as Northumberland County Council did not provide complete records.

David Collingwood, electoral services manager at Durham County Council, said: “We are required to provide Electoral Registers to comply with the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001.

“These specify the circumstances where information must be provided, and also the method of calculating charges payable.

“Anyone requesting a paper copy is also provided with a summary sheet of what they are entitled to use the information for which also details the penalties of misuse.

“Electronic copies are sent using secure file transfer which only allows the recipient email to access the documents enclosed.

“These figures reflect the fact that we are the largest local authority in the region as the cost of the register is calculated by reference to the electorate of the area concerned.”

How much councils have made by selling data from 2012:

Durham - £48,802

Northumberland - £24,190.06

Newcastle - £18,092.70

South Tyneside - £11,425.40

North Tyneside - £10,496.74

Sunderland - £9,838

Gateshead - £9,289.50

Total - £132,134.40