Piers Morgan vows to get ‘spectacularly drunk’ after phone-hacking investigation dropped

'I've never hacked a phone and nor have I ever told anybody to hack a phone,' says former Mirror editor

Morgan also wished his followers a Happy Christmas (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Piers Morgan has said he will be getting "spectacularly drunk" - moments after authorities announced they would be dropping the phone-hacking investigation.

Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders announced today there is “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of a conviction” in relation to the Operations Weeting and Golding investigation into alleged wrongdoing at News Group and Mirror Group newspapers.

Morgan, the former editor of the Daily Mirror, was interviewed under caution twice as part of the investigation.

He told his 4.71 million followers the Crown Prosecution Service had informed him “no further action will be taken” against him and thanked his family and friends for their support.

He also repeated: “As I’ve said since the investigation began four years ago, I’ve never hacked a phone and nor have I ever told anybody to hack a phone.”

Ms Saunders said the operation, which began in January, 2011, has brought “12 prosecutions and secured nine convictions for these serious offences” and acknowledged the “considerable public concern about phone hacking and invasion of privacy”.

Morgan has always maintained his innocence and been a vocal supporter of his friend Rebekah Brooks, the former editor of News of the World who was cleared of hacking phones last year.