Hundreds of thousands of government files are being shredded before the public gains the right to see them under the Freedom of Information Act on January 1.

Departments have almost doubled the number of files they have destroyed since the Freedom of Information Act became law, the Independent reports.

Julian Lewis, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, said: "It looks like there has been a bonfire of historical records."

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, added: "I thought that the sight of every light burning in government departments late into the night was a sign of the government's total disregard for the environment.

"Now I know civil servants are burning the midnight oil and shredding everything in sight before the deadline."