A meeting in London has agreed to open up for historical research what's thought to be the most detailed archive surviving on Nazi concentration camps.

The nine governments with overall responsibility for the International Tracing Service - which was originally set up to look for survivors of the camps - have said its records can be opened on condition that individual privacy is protected and the service's humanitarian work is safeguarded.

The BBC foreign affairs correspondent says there's been growing pressure from historians and academic institutions in recent years for the archive to be opened.

But he says there's concern among the governments in charge - which include the United States, Britain, Germany and Israel - about the continuing sensitivity of the information.