WASHINGTON - The U.S. government will continue its investigation into 2010 Prius hybrids over braking complaints even though Toyota Motor Corp has announced a recall of that model, the Transportation Department said on Tuesday.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement that his agency would remain in constant communication with Toyota to ensure that all possible defects are identified and fixed as quickly as possible.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a formal probe into the newest gas-electric Prius hybrid on February 3 after receiving 124 complaints from owners about momentary loss of braking while driving on rough road surfaces. The number of those complaints has risen sharply since.

Toyota announced earlier Tuesday that it was recalling 437,000 hybrid models, including the 2010 Prius. The action covers more than 150,000 vehicles in North America.

(Reporting by John Crawley; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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