The British government said on Friday it would take the closure of the Rupert Murdoch tabloid at the heart of a phone hacking scandal into consideration when deciding on the mogul's bid to buy BSkyB.

The department for media also said its final decision on the News Corp planned takeover would take as long as necessary to work through the large number of responses submitted as part of the final consultation.

Given the volume of responses, we anticipate that this will take some time, the department said in a statement.

He will consider all relevant factors including whether the announcement regarding the News of the World's closure has any impact on the question of media plurality.

The government has been examining the planned $14 billion takeover on grounds of media plurality and whether it would reduce the number of media voices present in the country.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Georgina Prodhan)

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