Watchdog probes anti-bullying helpline in Gordon Brown 'bully' scandal

A Charity Commission inquiry was today getting under way into an anti-bullying helpline at the centre of a row over Gordon Brown's treatment of staff at 10 Downing Street.

The watchdog last night announced it launched an inquiry into the National Bullying Helpline, after receiving 160 complaints over the course of this week.

The helpline's founder Christine Pratt provoked a political storm by claiming on Sunday it received calls from Downing Street staff seeking help over alleged bullying at work.

Amid the furore, the helpline was temporarily suspended on Wednesday, but a message on its website last night said it had now resumed services.

A statement announcing that the charity was considering its future and Mrs Pratt was "prepared to resign if necessary" had been removed from the site.

A spokeswoman for the Commission, which regulates charities in England and Wales, said: "Concerns have been raised about the protection of confidential information held by the charity as a result of the operation of the charity's confidential helpline for victims of bullying.

"The commission has a statutory responsibility to promote public trust and confidence in charities, and is aware of the potential impact on other charities that run confidential helplines."

The inquiry will look at the helpline's procedures around data protection and examine how people were referred from the helpline to a business run by one of its trustees.

A number of the charity's patrons, including Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe, resigned in recent days in protest at what they saw as a breach of a duty of confidentiality towards callers.