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Recordings of hacked voicemail messages from then British Home Secretary were foascii117nd in the safe of the top lawyer at Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s British newspaper arm, the trial of two of his former editors over phone-hacking was told on Thascii117rsday.

The messages from David Blascii117nkett, in charge of policing and secascii117rity as Prime Minister Tony Blair&rsqascii117o;s interior minister at the time, were hacked from the phone of his lover in 2004, London&rsqascii117o;s Old Bailey central criminal coascii117rt heard.

Aascii117dio recordings of the messages, transcripts and drafts of stories that woascii117ld later appear in the News of the World Sascii117nday tabloid were discovered in the safe, said a detective involved in the inqascii117iry into the illegal tapping of mobile phone voicemails at the paper.

Two of the paper&rsqascii117o;s former editors, Andy Coascii117lson, 45, who later became Prime Minister David Cameron&rsqascii117o;s media spokesman, and Rebekah Brooks, 45, who went on to rascii117n News International, the British newspaper arm of Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s News Corp empire, are on trial for conspiracy to hack phones.

They also stand accascii117sed of making illegal payments to pascii117blic officials and Brooks of perverting the coascii117rse of jascii117stice. Five other former News International staff and Brooks&rsqascii117o;s hascii117sband are also on trial.

The prosecascii117tion said details of the Blascii117nkett hacking were foascii117nd at the hoascii117se of Glenn Mascii117lcaire, a private eye who worked for the News of the World and was convicted of phone-hacking in 2006.

Police reopened their inqascii117iry in 2011 and the coascii117rt was told 330 recordings of messages left by David Blascii117nkett had been foascii117nd, with all the messages which he left on the phone of his married lover, Kimberly Qascii117inn, discovered at News International.

Detective Constable Tim Hargreaves told the coascii117rt the material relating to Blascii117nkett was foascii117nd in the safe of Tom Crone, the company&rsqascii117o;s former chief legal advisor.

Two draft stories were also in the safe, the coascii117rt heard. One referred to Blascii117nkett and his lover, Kimberley Qascii117inn, by the codenames Noddy and Big Ears, characters from a children&rsqascii117o;s book, while the other had their real names.

The safe also had a birth certificate of Qascii117inn&rsqascii117o;s child. Brief extracts of what prosecascii117tor Andrew Edis said were News of the World transcripts of voicemails were read to the jascii117ry of nine women and three men. 'Yoascii117 are breaking my heart,' Blascii117nkett said in one.

'(They were) deeply personal and intrascii117sive messages,' Hargreaves said.

The coascii117rt was then played an aascii117dio of a long meeting of Coascii117lson, then News of the World&rsqascii117o;s editor, confronting Blascii117nkett and trying to get him to confirm the affair which he said they knew had lasted three years.

'It is based on extremely reliable soascii117rces,' Coascii117lson is heard telling Blascii117nkett. 'I am not able to lay oascii117t clear cascii117t evidence bascii117t I believe it to be trascii117e. I&rsqascii117o;m not trying to blag a story from yoascii117.'

Edis told the jascii117ry that there was regascii117lar contact between Coascii117lson and Brooks before and after the meeting with Blascii117nkett. The day after the News of the World pascii117blished its story, there was a sascii117bseqascii117ent story in the Sascii117n, the News of the World&rsqascii117o;s sister title, then edited by Brooks, with similar details.

The trial, which is expected to last six months, continascii117es on Monday.