The News of the World’s chief reporter and former head of news have been arrested for alleged phone hacking.
Neville Thurlbeck, 50, and Ian Edmondson, 42, were held by Scotland Yard detectives when they voluntarily attended separate police stations in south west London today.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said two men who had been arrested in connection with detectives’ investigation had been released on bail to return in September.
Officers questioned the pair on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and unlawfully intercepting voicemail messages.
Mr Thurlbeck is a veteran reporter who has brought in some of the News of the World’s most famous scoops, while Mr Edmondson was sacked in January after evidence emerged linking him to phone-tapping.
They were the first people arrested since Scotland Yard reopened its inquiry into claims that staff at the Sunday tabloid hacked into the answerphone messages of celebrities, politicians and royals.
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