A DATABASE, tested by the Labour party in this year's Hartlepool by-election, is to be used across the country at the next General Election.

Marketing firm Mosaic has complied a profile of every postcode in Britain and this information has reportedly been bought by both the Labour and Conservative campaign teams.

Postcodes are checked against the parties' own knowledge of where they have had electoral success to build a list of potential voters.

These people can then be contacted by post, face-to-face or on the phone to galvanise support.

Labour first tried using the Mosaic system in September's Hartlepool by-election.

It now has 100 call centre staff in Gosforth, Tyneside, capable of making 500,000 calls to potential voters before May. The Conservative's call centre is based in Birmingham.

Party members can also use the information to find out if people who may follow their policies live in their area.

They can then be approached and asked to vote.

Mosiac UK is normally used for retail planning and customer relations so businesses can avoid or target potential customers.