The cost to the taxpayer for the hacking trial was at least £1,745,752.58, the Crown Prosecution Service said last night.

The figure included paying for lawyers, expert witnesses and CPS staff up to 31 May this year.

Meanwhile the costs so far of the various police investigations into newspapers is approaching £33m. The Daily Mail noted today that this contrasts with the £75m annual budget of the Met's Homicide Command, which investigates 100 murders a year.