Ex-Met chief's dinners with Brooks

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the editor of the News of the World dined together at The Ivy in London while the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was missing, official diaries show (Getty Images)

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the editor of the News of the World dined together at The Ivy in London while the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was missing, official diaries show

Lord Stevens met various senior executives from the national media while he was Britain's top police officer between 2000 and 2005, according to his diaries. The meetings included three dinners with the former NOTW and Sun editor Rebekah Brooks at The Ivy.

These included a three-hour dinner on 28 August 2002, a few months after Milly disappeared and before her body was found on 18 September. The diary showed that Mrs Brooks, under her maiden name Wade, met Lord Stevens on at least six occasions between 2000 and 2005.

Lord Stevens also met the former NOTW editor Andy Coulson on at least five occasions, including lunch at Shepherd's and dinner at Cipriani in Mayfair.

PA