Most of the outstanding charges against journalists involved in Operation Elveden have been dropped following the latest failed prosecution.

Nine journalists awaiting trial or retrial as part of the inquiry into payments to public officials have been informed by the Crown Prosecution Service that no further action would be taken.

The development was confirmed on the day four of their colleagues were cleared at the Old Bailey.

There were angry calls to "stop persecuting innocent journalists" after The Sun's Tom Wells, Neil Millard and Brandon Malinsky and former Daily Mirror reporter Graham Brough were found not guilty of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office.

It brings the total number of reporters to be cleared by a jury to 14.

The jury in the latest trial deliberated for 43 hours and reached not guilty verdicts on all but one count against Mr Wells and former Serco immigration detention centre official Mark Blake.

The jury was discharged and the CPS was given seven days to decide whether to seek a retrial.

Hours after the verdicts were delivered prosecutors confirmed they were scrapping the cases of nine out of 12 journalists awaiting trial following an urgent review prompted when the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of the first reporter to be found guilty.

The CPS will go ahead with cases involving six public officials, the wife of a public official and three Sun journalists, while the fate of five more journalists who are waiting to hear if they will be charged has yet to be decided.

Cleared

The four cleared journalists were cheered by friends and colleagues as they emerged from court.

Among them were defendants from previous Elveden trials including the Sun's royal editor Duncan Larcombe and former Whitehall editor Clodagh Hartley.

Mr Malinsky said: "I've had nearly two years of torture. I think the police and CPS have been a disgrace bringing my case and other cases to court.

"It's a disgraceful waste of public money."

He said the police should stop "persecuting innocent journalists".

Mr Brough said: "I have protested my innocence since the beginning of this 17-month ordeal. The process has been harrowing but the outcome life-affirming.

"I hope these acquittals will remove the fear currently freezing investigative journalism which is the lifeblood of any democracy.

"I am greatly relieved that professional reporters have not been criminalised today."

As he walked away from court, Mr Wells said: "There is a lot I would like to say, but I can't say anything."

The jury could not decide on a charge relating to Mr Wells' dealings with Mr Blake who, while working at Colnbrook secure immigration removal centre between 2008 and 2010, allegedly pocketed nearly £8,000 in exchange for tips.

All the defendants denied various counts of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office, while Mr Blake additionally denied misconduct in a public office.