News of the World to shut after scandal

London - Britain's News of the World tabloid will print its last ever edition on Sunday following a scandal over phone hacking, owner Rupert Murdoch's son James Murdoch said on Thursday.

"Having consulted senior colleagues, I have decided that we must take further decisive action with respect to the paper. This Sunday will be the last issue of the News of the World," Murdoch, the chairperson of News International, said in a statement.

He said that if allegations that a private investigator working for the 168-year-old Sunday tabloid hacked the voicemail of a teenage girl who was later found murdered were true, they were "inhuman".

"The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself," he added.

"Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued."

James Murdoch said the conviction in 2007 for phone hacking of the paper's royal correspondent Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire had failed to cure the problem.

"The News of the World and News International failed to get to the bottom of repeated wrongdoing that occurred without conscience or legitimate purpose."

He added that any advertising space in the final edition would be donated "to causes and charities that wish to expose their good works to our millions of readers".

Police say they are examining 4 000 names of people who may have been targeted by the paper.