An employee of HM Revenue and Customs has been arrested by detectives investigating corrupt payments to public officials.

The 50-year-old man was held on suspicion of misconduct in a public office by officers from Operation Elveden.

Scotland Yard said a 43-year-old woman was also arrested at the address in north west London.

She was held on suspicion of aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and money-laundering offences.

The pair were arrested at their home at 6am and are being questioned at a central London police station.

Police said Tuesday's operation was sparked by information supplied by News Corporation's management standards committee (MSC), which was set up in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal that led to the closure of the News of the World last July.

The MSC is carrying out internal investigations relating to Rupert Murdoch's remaining UK papers - The Sun, The Times and the Sunday Times - and is working closely with the detectives investigating alleged phone hacking and corrupt payments to police and other public officials.

Scotland Yard said in a statement: "Today's arrests are the result of information provided to police by News Corporation's management standards committee.

"They relate to suspected payments to a public official and are not about seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to information that has been obtained legitimately."

A total of 29 people have now been arrested since last July as part of Operation Elveden, which is linked to the Metropolitan Police's continuing phone-hacking investigation Operation Weeting.

The pair have been released on police bail until August.