Worst is yet to come, says News of the World head.(News)

Byline: James Chapman and Tamara Cohen

REBEKAH BROOKS told News of the World journalists there were worse revelations to come in the hacking scandal during a heated meeting which saw them vent their fury at her 'betrayal'.

The embattled chief executive said that in a year's time staff would all understand why the company had decided to close the newspaper.

They were also told that their London newsroom in Wapping, East London, was effectively being sealed off, with some claiming that they were all being treated like 'potential suspects'.

It came as Andy Coulson, a former editor of the newspaper and British prime minister David Cameron's ex-spin doctor, was arrested yesterday and held for ten hours.

In another move, Mr Coulson's former royal editor Clive Goodman - jailed in January 2007 for intercepting voicemail messages - was re-arrested in connection with alleged bribes to police.

Mr Coulson was held yesterday over allegations of corruption and phone hacking at the News of the World.

He also stands accused of illegally authorising payments to corrupt police officers and of hiring a private investigator who had served seven years in jail.

Last night as he emerged from a police station in Lewisham, South London, he maintained he had attended the station voluntarily, saying: 'There is an awful lot I would like to say, but I can't at this time.' The arrests were made as reporters at the News of the World's London offices challenged Mrs Brooks about her decision to stay on at the helm during the meeting, which was released to Sky News.

In the recording, one member of staff accuses Mrs Brooks of arrogance in believing that they might want to work for her again, followed by a ripple of applause. TV editor Tom Latchem is said to have put Mrs Brooks on the spot, saying that if she had fallen on her sword on Monday, when the Milly Dowler phone hacking scandal broke, it might have saved 200 jobs.

In response, sources at the meeting told how Mrs Brooks provoked derision by claiming she had stayed on to be the 'conductor' for the crisis, and declared she felt 'betrayed' by the allegations of wrongdoing.

She claimed to have 'some visibility' about the revelations to come and that there would have been 'another two years of trouble' if the paper had not been closed. She told reporters she did not expect to be arrested herself.

Her comments came as sensational allegations of a criminal cover-up were made against Rupert Murdoch's faltering media empire last night. Police are investigating claims that News International deleted millions of emails from an internal archive in an apparent attempt to obstruct a police inquiry.

Speculation has been rife about Mrs Brooks's role as the publication's editor at the time that Milly Dowler's phone is said to have been hacked into and her voicemails deleted.

Mrs Brooks admitted she was no longer in charge of the News International investigation into the scandal owing to the potential conflict of interest.

Yesterday journalists told how the News of the World's London and Dublin offices were in 'virtual quarantine' as staff were unable to come and go freely or access the internet or their work emails.

They were also told not to remove any items from the news floor. Staff at the Dublin office said the first that they knew anything was amiss was when an internal email arrived from News Corporation chairman and Rupert Murdoch's son and heir apparent, James, at around 4.30pm on Thursday.

The paper's Irish editor Geoff Frazer then appeared at the door of his office and told staff: 'I only know as much as you know.' Stunned reporters gathered around the newsdesk as journalists from their sister title, the Irish Sun, were assured that they would not be affected.

At around 6pm, many had left News International's city centre offices to go across the road to Ryan's bar on Camden Street where they stayed for a number of hours.

One later told a friend: 'I just cannot believe what has happened. We have been sacrificed for London's sins. It's just obscene. No warning, no consultation - just told that's it. We no longer have a paper to write for.' Another member of staff told her friends yesterday morning that she was crying as she got dressed for one of her last days at the paper.

Nobody has yet been made redundant, but the Irish office's 22 full-time staff have been told they are to be put on 90 days 'gardening leave' - effectively paid holiday for three months.

In London, Mrs Brooks apologised for 'operational issues' relating to the emails, blaming the police investigation, after staff complained that they were being 'treated just like criminals'.

Journalists had glumly returned to work yesterday in the hope of putting out a final edition which would focus on the 168-year-old paper's achievements, although there were fears the email, Twitter and Facebook clampdown would make this difficult.

Staff from its News International stablemate the Sun have been put on standby to help with production if staff do not turn up today.

This was amid growing speculation that the Sun will become a seven-day operation to fill the void left by the News of the World being closed down.

Talking of the closure, Mrs Brooks spoke of her own rise at the Sunday tabloid from secretary to editor at the age of 34, trying to show her loyalty against claims that the paper was sacrificed to protect her. She said the decision to close was 'not taken lightly' but claimed that executives were backed into a corner after advertisers deserted the 'toxic' brand.

She also tried to assure staff that as many as possible would be found jobs elsewhere in the company, paying tribute to the 'talented and untainted' journalists at the paper. Sky sources said Mrs Brooks had told staff a 'quick decision' would be made over whether to publish a Sun on Sunday.

News of the World London staff were yesterday given a letter outlining their redundancy packages. Mrs Brooks wrote to staff: 'While mistakes of the past have led the country's news agenda, News of the World exclusives have set the news agenda around the world. The Company will focus over the coming months on finding as many jobs as possible for the News of the World staff both within News International and the wider company.' When challenged as to why she had not handed in her notice, she told staff she was the 'best person' to lead the company out of its current mess, sources claimed. In the recording, Mrs Brooks told staff: 'This is not exactly the best time of my life'.

She was interrupted by an irate staff member who said: 'By your actions yesterday you are calling our newspaper toxic. We are all contaminated by that toxicity in the way we have been treated.

'Can't you see the bigger picture? You're making the whole of News International toxic, and there's an arrogance there that you think we'd want to work for you again.' Police are examining claims that a News International executive may have expunged millions of emails from an archive believed to date back to 2005.

The Guardian reported that 'massive quantities' of the archive appear to have been deleted on two separate occasions, the most recent in January of this year.

It also claimed the newspaper tried to hide the contents of a senior reporter's desk after he was arrested in April. If proven, the acts would appear directly to contradict claims from News International that it has been co-operating fully with police.

They could also be seized upon by Britain's broadcasting watchdog as it assesses whether the company can pass a 'fit and proper person' test for its proposed purchase of BSkyB.

reporter@dailymail.ie

CAPTION(S):

Andy Coulson: Arrested yesterday

Rebekah Brooks: News International head faced staff's fury yesterday