Recording meetings between police officers and journalists could have a "freezing effect" on media contact, the Leveson Inquiry has heard.John Twomey, crime reporter at the Daily Express and chair of the Crime Reporters Association, said the Filkin report, into relationships between the police and the press, could affect the level of contact between the media and police forces.He told the inquiry: "The initial reaction would be to pull back, to err on the side of caution... That would have a kind of freezing effect. Officers would be less likely to talk to you. They would give out less information to you. Some officers may just cease contact with you completely."He said the report, commissioned by the Metropolitan Police, was condescending to women after it suggested some female journalists engaged in "flirting" with police officers to get information.He told the inquiry off-the-record briefings could be vital to the success of police investigations. He said the New Cross double murder, where two French students were brutally murdered in 2008, was aided after a senior press officer released postmoterm information, and one of the perpetrators had come forward as a result of the publicity.When asked about information passed to reporters, Twomey said he would carefully reflect on the nature of the story before "rushing into print".He added: "You would never go ahead with any story that would possibly jeopardise apprehending a criminal... or a prosecution."Twomey said he met Dick Fedorcio, head of press at the Met, once or twice a year, either with CRA members or one-to-one.He told Lord Justice Leveson: "I always found him very proper and very professional, and very loyal to the organisation and those in command."He said meals with officers would incur a spend of £60 to £80 a head, and pointed out officers often wanted to relax over lunch away from Scotland Yard.He said: "It doesn't mean to say they are knocking back £400 bottles of champagne; [it's] over a couple of glasses of wine and a decent meal, there's a tradition there and I think they would expect it. They don't want to be in Scotland Yard when they could be out in a comfortable place with people they know and they can trust."The reporter said he had been shocked to hear evidence from former criminal investigator David Harrison, who told the inquiry earlier this morning that News of the World had sent a surveillance team to follow a Serious Organised Crime Agency operation in Ipswich during a serial murder investigation in 2006.He added: "If that did happen, that's quite shocking, I'm dismayed if it's the case... It's quite unbelievable really that a newspaper should go to those lengths."James Murray, associate editor for News at the Sunday Express, told the inquiry he had accepted a lift home in a Scotland Yard car after socialising with police officers. He and a colleague had been celebrating over a meal and drinks after a successful prosecution by Met officers.He said: "If anyone's suggesting 'oh right, you've gone out for this meal with the police, you've had a loads of drink, da da da, the next step, you're dropping brown envelopes all over the place', it's just so far removed from the truth, really. it doesn't happen like that.""The officer would be, firstly, mortally offended that it would be even suggested... and it would actually ruin the relationship because the relationship you're trying to build up is one of trust and so he doesn't want to receive a silly request."He described attending tour of the Black Museum at Scotland Yard with other Sunday Express staff, where he met Sir Ian Blair over champagne.He told the inquiry the Guardian's reporting of the Milly Dowler phone hacking allegations had damaged police relationships with the press, saying all trust had been "blown out of the water".He said the News of the World was a "lone wolf" in carrying out the activities described by Dave Harrison.He added: "I don't think journalists should play the role of detective. Playing an amateur detective can get you into all sorts of trouble and that's not what we're about."On socialising with police officers, he told the inquiry that he often obtains the best information "over a cup of tea, when everyone is very sober".The final witness of the day was Jerry Lawton, reporter at the Daily Star. He said he had experienced nothing more than "tea and sandwiches" in terms of hospitality from the police.He added: "The officers I have dealt with, even if the thought of some inappropriate [offer]... you would blow your contact and risk arrest. I can say that pretty firmly."Lawton criticised Leicestershire Police over their handling of the Madeleine McCann case, saying because police refused to brief journalists off-the-record, inaccurate information leaked by the Portuguese police had gone unchallenged. Claims that DNA tests proved Madeleine's body had been in the boot of her parent's car, hired weeks after she went missing, were later found to be false.He added: "I don't understand why Leicestershire police on this occasion, even if it was unreportable, did not brief, 'This was not right, the leak was wrong'."