The deputy prime minister has attacked press "misinformation and inaccurate reporting" as a distraction from the Earth summit.

John Prescott's condemnation came as the government confirmed that environment minister Michael Meacher will be among the five UK ministers attending the key Johannesburg conference at the end of August.

The move follows reports that Downing Street communications chief, Alastair Campbell, had dropped Meacher from the team to counter media "junket" claims.

But spin to neutralise press contrasts between the cost of a top-level government delegation and the plight of the world's poor backfired.

Environmentalists protested at the move - with many groups regarding Meacher as the greenest minister in the government.

Friends of the Earth offered to pay the minister's expenses, claiming he best understood the "sustainable development" issues on the summit agenda.

A Downing Street spokesman said "the best team" would be sent to the conference.

And Prescott denounced the way the British press had covered the build-up to the summit.

"Speculation, misinformation and inaccurate reporting has reached new heights, even for the British press over this critically important 'earth summit' in Johannesburg," said a statement from the deputy PM's office.

"Debate on the printed page over which ministers are going, how big the delegation is and whether the prime minister's director of communications has intervened will not deter the UK delegation from the real issues.

"This is the first time ever that an international conference, involving nearly 180 countries, has looked at such a broad spectrum of issues. At Johannesburg we will cover a huge range of matters under the heading of sustainability - from development issues, like poverty reduction, through to finance, from trade through to environment.

"Because of the complexity of the conference, this is the very reason we need the most effective delegation. Led by the prime minister, the UK delegation always punches above its weight and influences final outcomes.

"We have been working for months and years towards this summit, from Kyoto, through Doha, Monterrey and now on to Johannesburg."

The UK line-up for the Earth summit will be headed up by Tony Blair.

Deputy PM and former environment chief, John Prescott, international development secretary, Clare Short and Meacher's boss at the environment department, Margaret Beckett, join the prime minister.

Leaders from the devolved institutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also attending.

The total British delegation will be around 70 people - much less than the 200 plus average from other western European states.

The contingent will include up to 45 policy and press officials from five Whitehall departments - DEFRA, DfID, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Treasury.