Rupert Murdoch was expected to fly into London today to confront the growing News Corporation crisis amid calls for the immediate appointment of a judge to head an inquiry into the phone hacking scandal.

The chairman's anticipated intervention follows reports that millions of emails from an internal archive at News International may have been destroyed in what could be seen as a bid to obstruct Scotland Yard's inquiry.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, shadow culture secretary Ivan Lewis said there should be immediate cross-party discussions with a judge being put in place today.

"In view of the fact that the News of the World is shutting down, it is a matter of great urgency that any documentary evidence, including files and emails, is preserved to enable a proper inquiry into these serious allegations to take place," he told David Cameron.

The letter, which stated that the inquiry's terms of reference should be agreed with the judge "as soon as practicably possible", comes as the latest person held by police in the growing controversy was released on bail.

The 63-year-old man, arrested in Surrey last night in connection with alleged corrupt payments made to police officers, was ordered to return to a London police station in October. Police would not confirm reports that he is a private investigator.

News of the World editor Andy Coulson has also been released on bail following nine hours of questioning over suspected corruption and the phone hacking scandal that forced the 168-year-old newspaper to close.

As Mr Coulson, 43, of Forest Hill, south-east London, left Lewisham police station yesterday, he said: "There is an awful lot I would like to say, but I can't at this time."

The Sunday tabloid's ex-royal editor Clive Goodman, 53, has also spoken to police over claims officers were bribed following a dawn swoop on his Surrey home.

As the crisis at Mr Murdoch's empire deepened, Mr Cameron pledged "no stone would be left unturned," announcing details of two inquiries.

His words followed a report in The Guardian that Scotland Yard was probing claims that a member of staff at News International deleted a host of emails on two occasions at the end of January.

Scotland Yard refused to comment on the allegations, and a News International spokeswoman said: "This assertion is rubbish. We adopted a documented email retention policy in line with our US parent's records management policy. We are co-operating actively with police and have not destroyed evidence."

The first of the two probes announced by the Prime Minister, to be led by a judge, will investigate the criminal allegations levelled at News of the World staff as well as looking at whether other newspapers are implicated.

It will also examine the failures of the 2006 Scotland Yard investigation into the practice, which he branded "plainly inadequate".

The second inquiry, expected to begin this summer, will focus on the ethics and practices of the British press and will be conducted by a "credible panel of figures" drawn from a range of different backgrounds.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said the Press Complaints Commission had "failed" and was "frankly, completely absent" in the phone-hacking scandal.

He will order the inquiry to come up with a series of recommendations for industry regulation, which will be operated completely independently of the press.

Urging him to appoint a judge today, Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman told Sky News time was "running out" and that Mr Cameron should "stop dragging his feet".

"Think about what is going to happen at the end of today: the News of the World is going to be closed down, all the staff are going to be disappearing," she said.

"What will happen to the computers? If a judge is really to find out what happened, not to mention the police inquiry, if all the staff are going off in different directions it would be very difficult for the judge to call on them to come and give the evidence that they know.

News International - which will publish the News of the World for the final time tomorrow - has denied a report in The Guardian that police are now investigating suspected deletion of emails by an executive at the company.

This is said to have taken place on two occasions at the end of January and comes amid reports that the News of the World's newsroom is to become a designated crime scene when journalists leave.

Meanwhile, News International's embattled chief executive Rebekah Brooks has hinted to staff that more revelations are to come, warning of "another very difficult moment in this company's history".

Ms Brooks, who yesterday confirmed in a letter to employees that she is not in charge of the company's own investigation into alleged hacking, met with News of the World staff and defended her decision not to resign.

In a recording leaked to Sky News, she said she wanted to "fight and get this paper's reputation back".

Ms Brooks claimed her voicemail was one of the most frequently accessed by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who was jailed in January 2007 for hacking into royal voicemail.

Appearing to suggest further damaging allegations were ahead, she said: "We have more visibility perhaps on what we can see coming our way than you guys can, and look I can only, I'm tied because of the criminal investigation in what I can say, but I think in a year's time every single one of you in this room might come up and say, 'OK, well I see what you saw now'."

Ms Brooks added: "Eventually it will come out why things went wrong and who was responsible and that will be another very difficult moment in this company's history."

The shock decision to close the News of the World was announced after advertisers deserted in droves over claims that murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, bereaved military families and relatives of 7/7 bombing victims were targeted by hackers working for the tabloid.

Amid widespread public anger, police chiefs revealed that 4,000 people might have fallen victim and that evidence indicated journalists had paid officers.

Meanwhile, more than £1 billion was wiped from BSkyB's market value yesterday amid speculation the crisis could scupper Rupert Murdoch's bid to take full control of the satellite broadcaster.

The fall-out in the wake of the latest allegations heaped more pressure on Mr Cameron who was forced to defend his decision to repeatedly back Mr Coulson, his former director of communications.

Mr Coulson, who resigned from the beleaguered newspaper over the scandal, stepped down from his Downing Street post in January, saying the drip-drip of claims about illegal eavesdropping under his editorship was making his job impossible.

Number 10 said that it was acting "as rapidly as possible and legally permissible and that the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, had been asked to propose a candidate to lead the inquiry.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The Prime Minister has announced a judge-led inquiry. We have already approached the Lord Chief Justice who will propose the judge.

"We will continue to proceed as rapidly as possible and legally permissible and engage party leaders as set out by the Prime Minister.

"A major criminal investigation is ongoing by the police. It would be an offence to destroy or conceal any relevant information."