PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Scotland Yard has beefed up its team tackling phone hacking as its workload continues to grow.
Officers working on the inquiry have been been boosted from 45 to 60 after a "significant increase in the workload", Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers said.
She said the move came as officers experienced a "surge of inquiries and requests for assistance from the public and solicitors" as the scandal snowballed over the last fortnight.
The announcement came after MPs called on the Government to provide more funds for Operation Weeting, the police hacking probe, warning that any delay in completing it would "seriously delay" the start of the public inquiry announced by the Prime Minister.
Ms Akers added: "I have said all along that I would keep the resources under review and this has led to the increase.
"Similarly, if the demand decreases, I will release officers back to other duties."
A Home Affairs Committee report praised Ms Akers's decision to contact all potential victims of phone hacking by the News of the World.
But they said they were "alarmed" that only 170 have so far been informed, adding that "up to 12,800 people may have been affected".
Speaking about the beefed-up police team, Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: "This is excellent news. The extra resources will assist to help move things along much more quickly."