Police on the Operation Elveden bribes investigation have asked journalists to hand over a recording in which News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch admits knowledge of payments to public officials.

Exaro News, the website that broke the story last week, said on Twitter that it had been contacted by detectives from Operation Elveden, who had made "a formal request for the tapes". It further said that the Met may seek "a production order" if they were not given up voluntarily. Channel 4 News, which first broadcast audio of the recordings last Wednesday, has also been contacted by Scotland Yard.

On the tape, Murdoch told a group of journalists at The Sun that paying the police and other public officials for stories was “the culture of Fleet Street”. He did not admit to knowledge of any specific payments and a News Corp spokesman said that he was merely showing “understandable empathy” with reporters that had been arrested as part of the Scotland Yard investigation.