Police arrest 61-year-old over phone hacking

Scotland Yard said the man has remained in custody after visiting a London police station by appointment.

Channel 4 News filmed Mr Miskiw in Florida just over a fortnight ago saying he would voluntarily return to the UK from the US.

He had been mentioned in the notes of Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the phone hacking scandal.

Mr Miskiw was an editorial executive at the newspaper until 2005, during the time when private investigators are alleged to have intercepted voicemail messages on behalf of the News of the World.

When Mr Miskiw was approached by reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, he told them he had plans to fly back to London to answer any questions police might wish to ask him.

“I’m returning to the UK voluntarily,” he said.

“My solicitor has been talking to the police for some time now, so I have in effect been in touch with the police. They know where I am, and they know I’m returning – that’s all I’m saying.”

Mr Miskiw’s former partner was also arrested in Leeds in June in connection with the Met’s investigations into phone hacking.

Reports are emerging that he has recently been employed by the publisher of the National Enquirer, one of America’s best-selling celebrity gossip magazines.

The arrest by Operation Weeting detectives comes a week after Stuart Kuttner, the former managing editor of the News of the World, was held on suspicion of phone hacking and inappropriate payments to police.

Mr Miskiw is the 12th person to be arrested since Scotland Yard’s fresh investigation into phone hacking was launched in January.

These include a series of high-profile figures, including former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson.