The BBC spent £310,000 on private investigators between 2005 and 2011, director general Mark Thompson has revealed at the Leveson inquiry.

Thompson admitted at the inquiry on Monday that the BBC had used the convicted investigator Steve Whittamore and that the corporation has sought to get confidential information from the DVLA concerning the owner of a vehicle.

He said he believed there was a "strong public interest justification" for using Whittamore, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to illegally obtaining and disclosing information under the Data Protection Act.

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