The reported behaviour of some representatives of the national press in their desperate efforts to try to track down old pictures of MP Gloria de Piero once again highlights the clear distinction that must be made between national and local newspapers.

The Bradford-born Labour MP was just 15 when she posed topless in a bid to earn some money, hoping it might help her get out of poverty.

Since her appointment as her party’s equalities spokeswoman last week she says the hunt has intensified for the pictures, leading her to make an impassioned plea for her parents to be left alone. She claims one agency has offered thousands of pounds to allow them to search a Bradford building as part of the hunt.

It is unfortunate for Miss de Piero that a decision made as an impressionable teenager has now come back to haunt her, but it is completely unacceptable that her parents have been hounded to the point she has had to ask for them to be left alone.

And while it could be argued that because of her position, and her stance on Page 3 girls, that it is legitimate to ask her to justify her decision of 25 years ago, how could it be possibly anything other than gratuitous to publish these pictures now?

Some will undoubtedly use this as another stick to bash the press, and undoubtedly some sections deserve it. But the grubby actions of a few should not be used to penalise the measured and responsible behaviour of the vast majority of journalists.

Let us hope these pictures remain where they should be, buried in the past, and Miss de Piero is judged on the merits of her actions today, not as an impressionable young girl.