Ministers have turned down calls from MPs for a privacy law to control "unwarranted" intrusion and harassment of individuals by newspapers .

The Commons culture, media and sport committee said that the system of press self-regulation was failing and that some form of privacy law was now inevitable.

Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, said: "The government continues to believe that a free press is vital in a democracy and that self-regulation is the best regulatory system.

"That does not mean that there is no room for improvement. This is something I have already discussed with the Press Complaints Commission chairman, Sir Christopher Meyer."