More than 600 staff at HM Revenue and Customs have been subject to disciplinary proceedings after inappropriately accessing customer records since the creation of the department in 2005.

There were 238 people disciplined in 2005, 180 in 2006, and 192 in 2007.

"HMRC has a strict policy forbidding staff to access customer records, unless they have a legitimate business need," said HM Treasury financial secretary Jane Kennedy in a Commons written reply yesterday.

"Breaches of this policy are taken seriously and any breach will result in the commencement of disciplinary proceedings. Each case is treated on its merits but in many cases the disciplinary penalty for breach is dismissal," she said.

No HM Treasury staff have been disciplined or dismissed for inappropriate access to personal or sensitive data in the last three years.