A police force has rejected suggestions that officers leaked information about Joanna Yeates' landlord to journalists at the time of his arrest on suspicion of her murder.
The detective who led the investigation also defended the decision to keep retired teacher Christopher Jefferies on police bail for six weeks after Miss Yeates's killer was charged.
Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones said Mr Jefferies could only be formally eliminated as a suspect once forensic tests were completed on blood-stained trainers found hidden under a kitchen unit in his home.
Mr Jefferies told the Leveson Inquiry last month of his belief that police told reporters about the contents of a second witness statement he gave about Miss Yeates' disappearance from Bristol just before Christmas 2010.
He said he thought it was "likely" that officers told journalists they had suspicions about him, leading to "feverish" interest in him on 29 December 2010, the day before he was wrongly arrested, the Press Association reported.
"It is worth emphasising that I had told no more than three neighbours about that second statement to the police and they all subsequently assured me that they were not the source of the information that then appeared in the media," Mr Jefferies told the inquiry.
But Avon and Somerset Police insists that it did not brief any journalists about the retired teacher.
Chief Constable Colin Port disputed the number of people whom Mr Jefferies told about the contents of his second statement to police.
"That is incorrect, and I completely understand why Mr Jefferies cannot recollect that," he said.
"But I have counted eight people, including some people who were paid by the media for information."
Det Chief Insp Jones said there were operational reasons why Mr Jefferies remained on police bail until 4 March 2011, even though Miss Yeates's neighbour Vincent Tabak was charged with her murder in January of that year.
He told the press standards inquiry: "When Vincent Tabak was interviewed, he gave no comment in interview. There was only a very small area around a mobile phone which he was willing to talk about.
"One of the topics in that interview concerned Mr Jefferies, to which he again made no comment. Mr Jefferies was still a suspect in the investigation.
"There was still ongoing forensic examination being undertaken.
"In particular there was a pair of trainers which were found in Mr Jefferies' house which were hidden underneath a kitchen unit behind a kickboard.
"Those trainers had a blood spot on them. That was initially analysed, and because of a sensitive forensic technique which had to be used, eventually a DNA profile was found and Mr Jefferies could be eliminated."
Mr Port added: "We arrest 45,000 people each year. About 21,000 of those - an enormous number, too many in my opinion - are bailed, 1,600 of those are bailed longer than three months.
"We are doing something about that internally, but just to set the context, it wasn't extraordinary. Unfortunately it was usual."
Mr Jones admitted that police could have confirmed there was no evidence against Mr Jefferies when they issued a statement announcing he had been released from bail.
"In hindsight, yes, we probably could have released more information," he said.
"But the most important information to release was that he was no longer a suspect in the investigation, and that he had been released without charge."
The detective said Avon and Somerset Police came to adopt a policy of not commenting on some questions from journalists about the investigation into Miss Yeates' murder.
He said: "There was so much speculation from the media. I would describe it as almost a scatter-gun approach, where evidently they were trying to - I believe - identify lines of inquiry.
"And therefore our proportionate response to that was to give a response that we would not confirm or deny that as a line of inquiry we were pursuing."
Mr Port said police gave no off-the-record briefings to reporters during the investigation.
He said: "The way I approach things is I try and get as much on the record as possible because it is in the public interest, and that is what is paramount in all investigators' minds, the search for the truth.
"Once you start having cosy little chats with people behind the scenes, then people quite rightly will think there's something going on."
The Chief Constable strongly rejected a claim by Daily Mirror editor Richard Wallace in his Leveson Inquiry statement that police told reporters they were "confident" Mr Jefferies was "their man" when he was arrested.
He said: "It's absolutely outrageous. I have been a police officer for a long time.
"I have never done that. It is not my job to pass opinion on these issues. We don't give off-the-record briefings, and to behave in a collusive manner is just abhorrent."
Mr Port acknowledged that some reporters have expressed irritation at the level of assistance they get from Avon and Somerset Police's press officers.
He said in a written statement: "I am aware that the media has a certain amount of frustration with the communications office, and one journalist called it the 'suppress office', but we do try to be as open as we possibly can."
The inquiry also heard that Piers Morgan told police the combination of celebrity and crime "sends most of the usual rules out of the window".
The former Daily Mirror editor wrote to Surrey Police after the force complained about a critical editorial in his paper about the arrest of TV presenter Matthew Kelly in January 2003.
Mr Morgan told a detective: "These stories are hideously difficult for both you guys and for us. Fame and crime sends most of the usual rules out of the window."
Mr Kelly strenuously denied the historic sexual abuse allegations made against him and was never charged.