Six more former journalist of the now-defunct British newspaper, News of the World, have been arrested as part of a new police investigation into the phone hacking scandal.

Three men and three women were arrested and are being interviewed at police stations in London and Cheshire.

Five of the six were released on bail last night, the Daily Mail reports.

According to the paper, Scotland Yard detectives from the Operation Weeting inquiry said they are looking into a suspected conspiracy that took place between around 2005 and 2006.

The journalists were all arrested on 'suspicion of conspiracy to intercept telephone communications'.

Detectives said that they plan to speak to people they believe have been victims of the suspected phone hacking and searches are being carried out at a number of addresses.

According to the paper, this brings the total number of arrests in Operation Weeting to 32.