Rebekah and Charlie Brooks have been arrested (Image: Rex Features)

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

She was one of six arrested by Scotland Yard between 5:00am and 7:00am on Tuesday, The Guardian reports. As of 4:30am AEDT the group are believed to be undergoing questioning at various police stations around England. Police are searching the addresses of those arrested. Both News International and Brooks' lawyer declined to comment on the developments.

Brooks was arrested at her home in Oxfordshire along with her husband, racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks. They are being held at separate police stations.

The group of those arrested includes Mark Hanna, the director of group security at News International. The names of the other detainees have not been released, although one was described by News International as being a "non-editorial employee".

This is the second time that Brooks has been arrested, after being taken in by police on 17 July last year on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption allegations. That arrest came just two days after her resignation as chief executive of News International.

Today's arrests constitute the largest single swoop by police so far, as the inquiry into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal continues.

The arrest of Charlie Brooks has shifted the spotlight much closer to the UK's political sphere. Rebekah Brooks' husband is a long-time personal friend of British Prime Minister David Cameron, and as recently as last week questions were being raised over Cameron's relationship with the embattled former chief executive.