A Tory peer has called for news organisations to be given a “total exemption” from plans to make websites “age appropriate”.

Industry leaders fear the Information Commissioner’s plan could force some regional titles to fold due to the fact they could face huge fines if the criteria were not met.

Commissioner Elizabeth Denham has since moved to allay the concerns, denying that the code, which seeks to protect young people and children under the age of 18 from having their data details exploited on the web, will affect news publishers.

But, speaking in Parliament, Lord Black of Brentwood, pictured, has highlighted the “serious concerns” among publishers and called for a “total exemption” from the scope of the code.

In questions on the code proposals Lord Black, who chairs the News Media Association’s legal, policy and regulatory affairs committee, sai: “My noble friend will be aware of serious concerns among news publishers about the scope of the proposed code, which could have a disastrous impact on their commercial position if they were caught accidentally in its terms.

“Does my noble friend therefore agree that a total exemption for publishers who do not present any danger to children should be written into the code and not left to the chance of guidance?”

The Minister, Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen, said it was “not a question I can answer at the moment” but added that the Information Commissioner was “talking to stakeholders and everybody concerned with the Act”.

Speaking to the DCMS Select Committee in July, Ms Denham said: “We want to encourage children to find out about the world, we want children to access news sites.

“So the concern about the impact of the code on media and editorial comment and journalism I think is unfounded.”

She added: “We don’t think there will be an impact on news media sites. They are already regulated and we are not a media regulator.”