Rupert Murdoch is facing a fresh challenge to his UK media business as it emerged that Britain’s communications regulator has escalated its probe into whether British Sky Broadcasting is a “fit and proper” owner of a broadcasting licence.

Following preliminary investigations last year, Ofcom set up a dedicated team in January to scrutinise material emerging from the Leveson inquiry into the British press’s practices and the police’s investigations into phone hacking and corrupting public officials, according to minutes released under a Freedom of Information Act request.

Ofcom’s team – known as Project Apple – will assess if BSkyB should still hold a broadcasting licence in light of the phone-hacking scandal that engulfed Mr Murdoch’s News of the World newspaper last year.