The Government is seeking further advice from Ofcom on Rupert Murdoch’s £11.7bn Sky takeover bid after receiving “new evidence and comments”.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has written to the communications regulator asking for extra input before Culture Secretary Karen Bradley decides whether the proposed deal should face an in-depth investigation.

Bradley said last month that she was “still minded” to refer the takeover tilt to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) following a report by Ofcom flagging “public interest concerns” surrounding media plurality.