Senior journalists at The Sun have been cleared of paying public officials for stories.

Former royal editor Duncan Larcombe, from Aylesford, and deputy editor Geoffrey Webster, from Cranbrook, were among the correspondents in the dock during the two-month trial at the Old Bailey, accused of making illegal payments between 2004 and 2012.

Today Larcombe, 39, who lives in Aylesford High Street, was cleared of arranging unlawful payments of £23,000 to Sandhurst colour sergeant John Hardy for information about Prince Harry's army training.

Hardy, 44, was cleared of misconduct in public office and his 41-year-old wife Claire was cleared of aiding and abetting him.

Webster, 55, of Winchett Hill, Goudhurst was acquitted of two counts of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office.

Webster was also cleared of paying another public official after he arranged a cash payment to an anonymous tipster, alleged to be a serving solider.

The journalists are the latest reporters from the Sun to be acquitted in relation to Scotland Yard's Operation Elveden, the investigation into allegations of backhanders paid by newspapers for leaks from public officials.

They were prosecuted after police were handed emails, texts and payment records containing evidence that serving officers had fed them tips and photographs in return for money.

The sensational acquittals are the latest setback in the £10million police probe into alleged corruption at The Sun.

Larcombe argued that everything he wrote was in the public interest and said he stands by "every single one".

"My general view is if a newspaper is not allowed to hold public bodies to account, be it the police, the NHS, the Royal family, the Ministry of Defence, unfortunately they are not likely to tell us when there are things going wrong, like with Rotherham child abuse and like 1200 patients dying in mid Staffordshire", he said.

"Funnily enough government-paid press officers will not tell you about those things in a press release.

"In that kind of country if you are saying you can't ever pay a public official, it's always a crime, I think that would extremely dangerous."