The letter sent to energy secretary, Chris Huhne, last night (December 7) follows a French court case which resulted in two EDF employees and a third man being sent to prison for spying on the campaign group Greenpeace.

In the letter, which has been published on the EDF website, the energy giant says it wouldn’t be ‘appropriate’ to comment on the court case as it’s subject of an appeal.

But in the note, signed by EDF chief executive Vincent de Rivaz and informally started ‘Dear Chris’, the company explains its UK operations are nothing like that of the French.

It says: “I wish to reassure you that I fully share your view on the importance of maintaining trust.”

During the French trial, last month, the court heard EDF had been hacking into the hard drives of Greenpeace computers and had placed a ‘trojan horse’ in the hard drive of one.

This meant people at EDF, or working for them, could access private emails and documents being written by Greenpeace.

Mr de Rivaz used the letter to respond to Mr Huhne’s question about whether the company had been involved in anything similar in the UK.

The company says it has carried out a full investigation of its UK practices and says its found no evidence of similar illegal activity in the UK.

He said: “Our internal inquiry confirms we have not … we do not tolerate unethical behaviour.”

Luke Walsh

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