Rebekah Brooks arrested by police in hacking probe

The 43-year-old was arrested by appointment at a London policeand remains in custody.

She was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption.

She quit News International on Friday as pressure mounted over her role in the deepening scandal.

Mrs Brooks was editor of the paper between 2000 and 2003, during which time the phone belonging to murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was tampered with.

BBC Business Editor Robert Peston said News International was not aware that Mrs Brooks would be arrested when her resignation was being discussed at the company on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. She eventually resigned on Friday.

Mr Peston added: "It's certainly the most extraordinary development. Rebekah Brooks is incredibly close to the most powerful people in the UK - the current prime minister, the previous prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. More or less every senior person of influence within Britain."

He said it could now potentially jeopardise her appearance at the Parliamentary Select Committee on Tuesday, where she is due to answer MPs questions on the hacking scandal.

"I would assume having been arrested it's now almost impossible for her to appear. It's very difficult for MPs to ask her questions that wouldn't be seen to be impinging on the police investigation."

In other developments:

• Home Secretary Theresa May is to tell MPs about her "concerns" overthe Metropolitan Police's hiring of ex-News of the World journalist Neil Wallis, who is currently on bail over phone hacking allegations
• Labour leader Ed Miliband calls for new media ownership rules to limit Rupert Murdoch's "dangerous" and "unhealthy" concentration of power
• An advert placed by News International in national newspapers on Sunday describes how the company is "putting right what's gone wrong"
• Several Sunday newspapers feature promotions in an attempt to woo former readers of the News of the World, which was the UK's best-selling newspaper
• News International says it has set up an independent management and standards committee to see how the company can prevent similar instances happening again

Committee appointment

Mrs Brooks's arrest is the tenth made by Operation Weeting police, who are conducting the current investigation into phone hacking.

Those arrested and bailed by police as part of the new investigationhave included ex-NoW editor Andy Coulson, ex-NoW assistant editor Ian Edmondson, ex-NoW chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, senior ex-NoW journalist James Weatherup, freelance journalist Terenia Taras, Press Association journalist Laura Elston, an unnamed 63-year-old man, and ex-NoW royal editor Clive Goodman.

Officers from Operation Elveden were also involved with this latest arrest. They are investigating allegations of inappropriate payments to police, an inquiry which is being supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

A spokesman for Mrs Brooks says the Met police notified her on Friday, after her resignation had been agreed, that she would be arrested.

He also said her arrest would make her appearance at the committee "pretty tricky" and that said she had been offering to speak to police on voluntary basis since January, so she was "very surprised" to learn she would be arrested.

Her former boss, News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, and his son James Murdoch, chairman of News International, are also due to appear before MPs.

Grave situation

Media analyst Steve Hewlett says the timing of these latest events may have been an attempt to limit the damage done to News International.

"To have a very senior executive of the company arrested would have been rather worse than having a very senior former executive of the company, albeit only just," he said.

"If that's correct, then it may even be that even the latest move by News Corporation to kind of stem the tide - with the resignations of Les Hinton in America and Rebekah Brooks - even that may have been forced on them by events beyond their control.

"Which would raise yet further questions about whether News Corporation have even now really understood and accepted the gravity of the situation that they're facing."

The assistant editor of the Guardian, Michael White, believes the arrest is an attempt by police to deflect attention away from them.

"I'm wary when the police are trying to show the world they have been on the case, because for two or three years they've not been on this case properly and now they're, perhaps they're over compensating a bit to be honest," he said.