Media law firm Olswang has been drafted in by News International to draw up a new code of conduct, it has confirmed.

The media organisation, which owns the News of the World, has been subject to intense scrutiny this week following allegations that a mobile phone belonging to murder victim Milly Dowler was hacked in to.

In the backlash against the Wapping giant, Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks to ‘consider her position’, and the Press Complaints Commission has insisted NI should answer publicly in response to all allegations.

The company has now taken the step of hiring Olswang senior partner Mark Devereux and head of judicial review and public law Dan Tench to draw up a new set of standards.

In a statement released today, Devereux said: ‘I can confirm that we have been instructed by News International to help them conduct a thorough review of their practices and systems.

‘Exact details or our terms of reference and all further communications around them will be provided by News International in due course.

‘We are delighted to have been selected to help with such an important project and we expect to come up with some recommendations of best practice which may also have some value for the news industry as a whole.’

The PCC said: ‘The suggestion that people working for a newspaper listened to, and deleted the voice messages, of Milly Dowler will appall and concern everybody in equal measure.

‘The PCC is committed to ensuring that such practices are stamped out, and calls upon the newspaper and magazine industry to support its work further to ensure that this is the case.’

Brooks has said News International will offer the Metropolitan Police its full co-operation as it investigates the claims.

She said the first priority must be to establish the full facts.

News International lawyers have asked the Dowler family’s solicitor for any evidence to back up the allegations.