A TOP SECRET list of alleged MI6 spies has been widely circulated around Lancaster.

The list of agents names and periods of service is thought to have been compiled by disgraced MI6 officer, Richard Tomlinson, who has fled the country.

The Foreign Office secured an injunction to stop Tomlinson publishing the names but it was briefly reproduced on an American website.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office has described the people behind the publication and distribution of the list in Lancaster as "dangerous and irresponsible."

The names appear under the headline "Lifting the Lid on MI6" in a pamphlet entitled "Samizdat" which has been circulated around the city.

It reads: "Richard Tomlinson, a former employee of MI6, describes the agents listed below as 'unprincipled and unscrupulous' and 'felt that the behaviour of the organisation was unacceptable in a civilised society."

It the lists 120 men and women which it claims have worked in dirty tricks campaigns abroad.

Mr Nev Johnson on behalf of MI6, now known as SIS (Security Information Service) said: "The people who have reproduced this list are dangerous and irresponsible.

"Although we are unwilling to confirm or deny whether the names listed are members of the security forces we know there are certainly some names listed which are definitely not employees yet they could now be targeted by terrorist groups

"Innocent people could be targeted and the people who put out the list are not only irresponsible they are cowards for not being willing to be named themselves."

Mr Johnson confirmed that Mr Tomlinson was a former employee of MI6 and added: "This information was posted on a website but there is no indication to suggest Tomlinson actually put it there.

"We have an injunction to prevent Tomlinson publishing this material and we alerted the authorities in America who had it taken off the website. The difficulty is acting against unnamed publishers."

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