Denmark will buy data leaked from the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal, Taxation Minister Karsten Lauritzen has announced, according to BBC News.

An anonymous offer to sell data involving up to 600 Danish citizens was made to the tax authorities over the summer, he said in a statement.

"We owe it to all Danish taxpayers who faithfully pay their taxes," he said.

The decision was attacked as "deeply reprehensible" by a spokesman for one of the opposition parties.

Germany, France and the UK are all believed to have paid for data on bank customers in the past but this may be the first time a government has agreed to pay for data leaked from the law firm involved in the Panama Papers, Mossack Fonseca.

Some 11.5m documents previously leaked from the firm to international media revealed huge offshore tax evasion.