PENDLE MP Gordon Prentice says anyone convicted of involvement in selling peerages for cash should go to prison.

The Labour back bencher spoke out after the all-party Public Administration Committee, of which he is a member, postponed taking evidence from key witnesses because of a police inquiry.

The Metropolitan Police will hand in a "preliminary submission" to the Crown Prosecution Service in September to see if individuals should go to court.

Until the investigation ends the committee will not take evidence from people who gave loans to Labour and were then nominated for the House of Lords, but rejected by the watchdog which vets peerages.

Committee chairman Tony Wright said: "It's pretty clear that some of the witnesses we have identified are very much in the frame as far as the police are concerned."

After the decision, Mr Prentice said: "If people are found guilty on this, they should not be in the Lords, they should be behind bars.

"This inquiry is not a fanciful investigation that's going to fizzle out. There is some substance there. Police are interviewing some people under caution."