Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard says he is disgusted that someone would invade his or anyone"s privacy by accessing his voice mail without his permission.

"It"s the same as someone going through your mail. It"s morally reprehensible," he said.

Hubbard, whose council-issued Telecom New Zealand Ltd. mobile is among those a teenage hacker claims to have targeted, says there were no confidential messages on his voice mail but he"s still shocked to discover someone could access his voice mail.

"It"s hugely important that Telecom and whoever else is involved reacts strongly to this. Apart from the legal issue it"s morally wrong to do this kind of thing."

Hubbard says he has not lost faith in Telecom"s service, but would rather not be inconvenienced by having to put in a PIN every time he accesses his voice mail.