An agreement has been reached over the terms of a temporary order relating to the extent of the use of material seized from a Guardian journalist’s partner held at Heathrow under UK anti-terror laws, High Court judges heard.

ON Jul 20, in a basement of the London offices of Britain’s Guardian newspaper, a senior editor and an IT expert used angle grinders and sledgehammers to destroy computer hard drives containing copies of secret files leaked by Edward Snowden, the computer whiz who disclosed details of top-secret US and British government surveillance programmes to the press.

Data seized from a UK investigative journalist’s partner who was detained for nine hours under anti-terror laws has led the police to launch a criminal investigation, the High Court in London has been told.

Lawyers acting for the journalist’s partner held for nine hours under anti-terror laws have won an order to stop the Government and police “inspecting, copying or sharing” data seized from him – except “for the purpose of protecting national security”.

Scotland Yard has said that the detention of the partner of a Guardian journalist at the centre of revelations about US and British security services was "legally and procedurally sound".