Coulson stayed at Chequers after resigning

Andy Coulson had dinner and stayed overnight at the Buckinghamshire country house in March, Number 10 revealed today.

A No 10 source said: “The Prime Minister invited him to thank him for his work.”

Mr Coulson’s visit to Chequers took place just a couple of months after he quit his communications role at Downing Street in January, as allegations over phone hacking gathered pace.

The revelation will add fuel to the fire of those criticising David Cameron‘s judgement over appointing Mr Coulson as his communications chief despite his resignation from the Sunday tabloid over phone hacking in 2006.

Mr Coulson was arrested last week over alleged corruption and phone hacking at the paper while he was editor. He was bailed the same day.

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Friendship and trust in Coulson

Mr Cameron revealed last week that he had met Mr Coulson since his resignation, but “not recently and not frequently”.

“When you work with someone for four years as I did, and you work closely, you do build a friendship and I became friends with him,” the Prime Minister told a press conference last Friday.

“He became a friend and is a friend.”

Mr Cameron insisted he had had no reason to doubt Mr Coulson’s assurances that he did not know about any phone-hacking practices while he was editing The News of the World.

At Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Cameron said: “If it turns out he lied, it won’t just be that he shouldn’t have been in Government, it will be that he should be prosecuted.”

Other key figures in the Murdoch empire have also received hospitality from the Prime Minister, the documents showed.

Rebekah Brooks, who resigned today as chief executive of News International, visited Chequers twice last year, once in June and again in August.

News International chairman James Murdoch also attended Chequers in November and Ms Brooks and Mr Murdoch met the Prime Minister socially in December. Separately, Ms Brooks met Mr Cameron again the same month.

Phone-hacking scandal

Pressure over the scandal has not let up today, despite Ms Brooks’ resignation.

Rupert Murdoch, the owner of News International parent company News Corporation, met with the family of murdered girl Milly Dowler, whose phone was allegedly hacked by The News of the World.

In the United States, the FBI is considering an investigation into allegations News Corporation attempted to hack the phones of 9/11 victims and a Lord in the UK said Mr Murdoch should have had more editorial control over his newspapers.

Ms Brooks as well as Rupert and James Murdoch will all still face a grilling by MPs on Tuesday, after an apology signed by Rupert Murdoch is printed across Saturday’s papers for the scandal.