More than 1,000 have now signed a Press Gazette petition urging the Government to amend the snooper’s charter to protect journalists and their sources from state surveillance.

The petition urges Home Secretary Amber Rudd to accept an amendment to the Investigatory Powers Bill put forward by the National Union of Journalist and News Media association with broad support across the journalism industry.

The petition states: “The Investigatory Powers Bill will allow state surveillance of every step of a journalistic investigation in the digital world.