A spokesperson for News UK has today responded to a police report detailing how the telephone records of journalists at The Sun were seized without the knowledge or consent of the journalists or the newspaper.

The spokesperson said:

"News UK and The Sun were surprised and concerned to learn of this intrusion, which we understand was authorised by a police officer rather than a judge, for the apparent purpose of exposing a whistle-blower who was ultimately shown to have committed no criminal offence.

"We understand this was achieved, without our knowledge, by the use of police powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. This circumvented the normal safeguards in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, which was designed to give proper protection to journalists and their sources.

"We will be writing to Lord Justice May, the Interception of Communications Commissioner, to ask him to examine how many times and with what justification these authorisations have been made against the media and whether he intends to issue any guidance on the media’s right to keep their phone records safe."