Dundee Council risks an unprecedented investigation into its repeated failures to provide the public with information.

The council is the public authority that has fallen foul of the Information Commissioner's judgment most often since the law on Freedom of Information came into effect. The council has been forced to release information more than the entire Government.

While the Scottish Government and Executive lost its battles to retain privacy of information in 4% of the appeals taken to the commissioner, that was true of Dundee in 37% of cases.

With the release of the new analysis of the first three years of the operation of the Freedom of Information Act, Kevin Dunion, the Information Commissioner, has served notice he will investigate public authorities that are finding compliance difficult.

He has not used this power, as he was handling a backlog of appeals from the public for organisations to release information.

Mr Dunion said: "Where you see a body of evidence building up that there's some chronic failings in an organisation where they, more often than not, get these things wrong, we can sit down like an auditor and agree a programme of action."

A spokesman for Dundee City Council said that they believed it was operating within legislation.

He said: "A number of requests for information have been rejected based on the cost involved or to protect council or companies' commercial interests.

"It is our belief that we are operating within the legislation and we anticipate the number of information notices issued will reduce."

With today's publication of his annual report, Mr Dunion is also calling on the Scottish Government to expand the scope of the law to include public-private partnerships like hospitals.