The former landlord of murder victim Joanna Yeates has accepted a substantial undisclosed payout from eight newspapers.

Chris Jefferies took the papers to court over allegations they made about him following his arrest over Yeates' death. He was subsequently released without charge.

The former teacher's lawyer Louis Charalambous said the Sun, the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror, the Daily Mail, the Daily Record, the Daily Express, the Daily Star and the Scotsman had made "seriously defamatory" allegations against him.

The newspapers have agreed to apologise.

In a statement made outside court on Friday his lawyer said: "Christopher Jefferies is the latest victim of the regular witch hunts and character assassination conducted by the worst elements of the British tabloid media.

"Many of the stories published in these newspapers are designed to 'monster' the individual, in flagrant disregard for his reputation, privacy and rights to a fair trial.

"These newspapers have now apologised to him and paid substantial damages but they do so knowing that once the conditional fee agreement rules are changed next year victims of tabloid witch hunts will no longer have the same access to justice."

In a separate case, the Sun and the Mirror have also been accused of contempt of court over coverage of the murder.