The influential musician and digital entrepreneur Peter Gabriel has hit out at the government's plans to abolish "vital" net neutrality.

The former Genesis frontman, backer of a host of new media companies including Manchester digital agency Great Fridays, said he felt "very strongly" about the issue.

He is quoted by the Guardian as saying: "Freedom of access [to information online] is going to be an important battleground. It's vital to a free and open democracy: [net neutrality] serves everybody."

Ed Vaizey, the communications minister, intimated on Wednesday that he was considering scrapping net neutrality, the principle that all internet traffic is treated equally.

Critics of his plans say abandoning net neutrality would leave a two-tier internet, where smaller sites are slower to load and the bigger players that can afford to pay a premium zip into people's homes faster.