The Metropolitan Police has defended its investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World.

Met Assistant Commissioner John Yates told the Today programme that the investigation had sent "an extremely strong message" to those considering hacking into well-known individuals' voicemail messages.

But he did accept that an interview with former News of the World Journalist Sean Hoare, who told Radio 4's PM programme that the newspaper's former editor Andy Coulson was aware of the hacking, was "new" and the Met would now consider its response.

However, Mr Yates denied that the Met had failed in its duty to inform victims, following accusations levelled by former deputy prime minister John Prescott that his phone was hacked but he was not told about it.

"The fact that John Prescott's name appears on an invoice does not mean his phone has been hacked," Mr Yates added, arguing that the Met focussed its investigation where there was the best evidence.

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