Senior British police officer John Yates, who in 2009 refused to reopen an investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World tabloid, resigned on Monday, Scotland Yard said. "Assistant Commissioner John Yates has this afternoon indicated his intention to resign to the chair of the MPA (Metropolitan Police Authority)," said a Scotland Yard statement. "This has been accepted." His resignation came a day after the head of London's Metropolitan Police, Commissioner Paul Stephenson, resigned amid mounting pressure over his links to a former News of the World deputy editor Neil Wallis who worked for the police as a consultant. Wallis was arrested last week on suspicion of phone hacking during his time at the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid. Wallis began working as a police consultant in 2009 just two months after he quit the News of the World, which was axed two weeks ago as the phone-hacking scandal escalated