Britain's data watchdog will be able to carry out unannounced raids on companies suspected of involvement in illegally harvesting personal ­information, under major new powers being introduced in the wake of the ­Facebook data scandal, The Sunday ­Telegraph can disclose.

Ministers have drawn up legislation allowing the Information Commissioner to carry out “no notice” inspections without a warrant.

The moves comes after MPs said it was “ludicrous” that Elizabeth Denham, the current watchdog, was forced to wait days before obtaining a warrant to raid the headquarters of Cambridge Analytica, a firm at the centre of the scandal. She said the company had failed to comply with her earlier requests for information.

Under the new powers, organisations will be forced to hand over specific information within 24 hours of a request from the watchdog, with the prospect of criminal convictions for those who fail to comply.

The commissioner will also be able to demand information from former employees of firms to enable her to properly investigate allegations of “historical breaches” such as those being faced by Cambridge Analytica, officials said.

The new powers are contained in government amendments to the Data Protection Bill, which is currently passing through the Commons.

Matt Hancock credit: Steve Back / Barcroft Media

Matt Hancock, the Digital Secretary, told The Sunday Telegraph: “These new amendments will give the Information Commissioner the power she needs to act swiftly when people’s data has been breached and allow her to hold rogue companies to account. As recent events have shown, the public needs stronger protection so they can have confidence their data is safe.”

It comes as The Sunday Telegraph reveals Twitter sold data to the Cambridge University academic who harvested millions of Facebook users’ information without their knowledge.

Aleksandr Kogan, who created tools that allowed a political consultancy to psychologically profile and target voters, bought the data from the microblogging website in 2015, before the recent scandal came to light.

On Monday March 19, Ms Denham announced that she was seeking a warrant to search Cambridge Analytica’s London offices following claims that it had harvested private data on more than 50 million Facebook users to support Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign. However, it was not until the Friday evening that she was able to obtain a warrant and begin a search, following the adjournment of a court hearing.

As a result of the amendments to the Data Protection Bill, the Information Commissioner “will now be able to demand access to an organisation’s premises to carry out ‘no notice’ inspections without a warrant”, a spokesman for the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport department said.

Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder, has apologised for the “major breach of trust” that saw information obtained by Cambridge Analytica.

Cambridge Analytica insists it acquired the information “legally and fairly” and has “robust data protection policies”.