Sun journalists held in bribery inquiry

Two Sun journalists and a policeman were arrested yesterday by detectives investigating bribery by the media.

The journalists, suspected of conspiracy to corrupt and cause misconduct in a public office, were detained at their homes in Bristol and London. A serving officer with Wiltshire Police was also held at his home at 6am, on suspicion of misconduct and conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.

The number of arrests by Scotland Yard's Operation Elveden inquiry into the corruption of police and public officials now stands at 50.

Yesterday's arrests came after the police received new information from News International's owner, News Corporation, which is conducting a clean-up of the newspaper group, which also owns The Times and Sunday Times.

They mark continuing high-level activity within Operation Elveden, which began last June when News International handed over information on apparent bribes of police by the News of the World.

So far 16 journalists on The Sun and five former journalists on the News of the World have been arrested by the inquiry – one of three focusing on illegal newsgathering techniques at News International.