Five 'Sun' journalists arrested over police payments

Eight people, including five journalists from The Sun, have been arrested over allegations of illegal bribes to police and public officials by the media.

Those arrested by Operation Elveden are believed to be senior figures at the newspaper, including deputy editor Geoff Webster, chief reporter John Kay and picture editor John Edwards.

Chief foreign correspondent Nick Parker and reporter John Sturgis have also been taken in for questioning. A serving police officer, a member of the Armed Forces and a female Ministry of Defence employee have also been arrested.

Sky News reporter Martin Brunt said that staff at The Sun feel a sense of "betrayal" over the arrests, while a journalist at News Corporation said there is a fear that the publication will suffer the same fate as its sister paper News Of The World, which closed in July following the exposure of its phone hacking activities.

"Journalists at The Sun believe this is a witchhunt against one newspaper," the source said.

News International said that it was offering legal representation to those arrested, adding that the company "is committed to making certain that legitimate journalism is vigorously pursued in both the public interest and in full compliance with the law."

Operation Elveden has been running alongside Operation Weeting, which is the separate investigation into phone hacking and intrusion of privacy.

A total of 21 people have now been arrested in conjunction with Operation Elveden. Scotland Yard searched New International's offices in Wapping when five people were taken into custody last month.

A judicial review into phone hacking operations ruled this week that the Metropolitan Police failed to warn victims that their privacy had been compromised.