WHAT a wonderful diversion we’ve had since the £6m Leveson inquiry into the nefarious behaviour of sections of the British press.

Tortuous inter-party talks with all the leaders claiming credit for arriving at a dogs dinner of an agreement for regulation of the press.

In the background, much teeth-grinding from celebrities who crave press coverage when it suits them, and hot air from the pompous who would like nothing better than a press fettered in their ability to report hypocrisy and corruption.

And who seems to have sailed through all this in true Teflon style? None other than the dog that didn’t bark, Her Majesties Constabulary.

The appropriate legislation to tackle phone hacking and invasion of privacy has always been in place but the police have signally failed in their duty.

Initially they failed to investigate and when pressure mounted they attempted to excuse their inaction by blaming poor advice from the Crown Prosecution Service.

When eventually shamed into action they tried to reduce the damage to their reputation by minimising the extent of the wrongdoing.

A recent editorial in The Northern Echo was quite correct, there already is effective legislation in place.

Intelligent readers will form their own conclusions as to why the police failed to act.

VJ Connor, Bishop Auckland.