The Prime Minister is expected to face detailed questions about his close relations with senior newspaper executives when he gives evidence at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards on Thursday.

His grilling under oath at the Royal Courts of Justice will centre on issues such as the appointment of Andy Coulson as Downing Street spin chief and his friendship with Rebekah Brooks.

Both former tabloid editors' appearances at the inquiry threw up questions over Mr Cameron's own actions both as opposition leader and after he became Prime Minister in 2010.

In the wake of the phone hacking scandal he conceded that he, like his predecessors, had got too close to media proprietors at times and has called for relations to be "reset".

He has strongly denied doing any deal with Rupert Murdoch's media empire in return for the pre-election support of The Sun newspaper or helping approve his bid to take over BSkyB.

Details of a string of meetings with the media mogul and other senior figures before and after the 2010 election will be probed however.

Downing Street said Mr Cameron had been receiving advice from a QC and the Treasury Solicitor as he prepared to give evidence.