Jailed peer Jeffrey Archer has made a formal request to look at government information about him.

He is thought to have asked for the records after he breached prison rules by attending a party while on home leave.

Under the Data Protection Act, Archer, 62, who has a home in Cambridgeshire, had the right to ask for any information on file which concerned him, a Home Office spokesman said on Tuesday.

The spokesman said: "I can confirm that a request has been received by Lord Archer and the Prison Service has responded while material from the Home Office is still to be gathered."

Archer was convicted for perjury in 2001 at the Old Bailey and given a four-year prison sentence.

He is being held at Hollesley Bay open prison, near Woodbridge, Suffolk.