The parents of murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman have been contacted by detectives investigating phone hacking at the News of the World.

A police source said relatives of the two children murdered by Ian Huntley were visited by Scotland Yard officers several months ago.

A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman said: "Both families have been contacted by officers from the Metropolitan Police and are assisting with them with their inquiries."

The families are understood to be seeking further clarification from Scotland Yard before making any comment.

A Met police spokeswoman said the force would not be commenting.

Former school caretaker Huntley is serving a life term for the 2002 murders of Jessica and Holly, both 10, in Soham.

Huntley's throat was slashed with a makeshift knife in Frankland Prison, Durham, in March last year.

MPs will have an emergency debate on Wednesday over whether to hold a public inquiry into the phone hacking scandal

Carmaker Ford later announced that it had pulled its advertising from the News of the World following allegations that a private investigator working for the paper hacked into schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone.