Operation Elveden: Police officer arrested in payments probe

Some 60 people have now been arrested as part of Operation Elveden

A serving police officer has been arrested as part of the ongoing inquiry into allegations of illegal payments by journalists to public officials.

The 50-year-old Metropolitan Police employee was held at 06:00 GMT at his home in the Wimbledon area of London.

He is being questioned on suspicion of misconduct in a public office and his property has been searched.

Officers working on Operation Elveden said he serves with the Territorial Policing command in south London.

Some 60 people have now been arrested as part of the inquiry, which is being run alongside two other police investigations.

Operation Weeting is an inquiry into alleged phone hacking, while Operation Tuleta is an investigation into computer hacking and other privacy breaches.

Of those people arrested under Operation Elveden, nine have been charged and four have been told they will face no further action.

Scotland Yard said the latest arrest came after information had been provided by News Corporation's management and standards committee.

The body was set up by the media giant in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal at its now-defunct News of the World title.