It seems that every other piece of paper I read these days warns me of the increasing incidence of identity theft.

According to a CPD conveyancing course I attended last month, mortgage and other frauds involving the Land Registry are running at record levels.

The government and Registry could protect millions of homeowners and their lenders at a stroke by reintroducing the original principles of access to Registry records, as enshrined in the Land Registration Act 1925.

Namely that, without the prior written authority of the registered proprietors of a Registry title number and or their mortgagees, no third party could have access to Registry records in relation to such title number.

It seems ludicrous to go to such time, effort and expense to guard against identity theft when the population of the planet can, at the click of a mouse, identify precisely who owns and has mortgages on every Registry title number in England and Wales.

This renders the registered proprietors and their lending institutions sitting targets for fraudsters worldwide.

The Law Society would be doing the public and lending institutions a great service by seeking statutory reintroduction of the original 1925 act principles of confidentiality before access can be obtained to Registry records.

Edwin R Lee, William Heath & Co, London