Labour is calling for an immediate start to the judicial phone-hacking inquiry so evidence will not be lost when the News of the World closes.
News International has said a Guardian report that millions of e-mails may have been deleted was "rubbish".Number 10 said that it was acting "as rapidly as possible and legally permissible" and that steps were being taken to appoint a judge to lead it.
It comes as staff are preparing the final edition of the Sunday tabloid.
Rupert Murdoch is expected to arrive in London on Sunday to take charge of dealing with the phone-hacking crisis that has engulfed his News International group.
Earlier reports had suggested he was to arrive on Saturday.
Labour has written to No 10 to urge the immediate appointment of the judge to lead an inquiry into the scandal.
In a letter to the prime minister on Saturday, shadow culture secretary Ivan Lewis asks for "immediate discussions so that by the end of the day we are in a position to agree the appointment of the judge" to head one of the independent inquiries into the scandal.
And Labour's deputy leader, Harriet Harman, told Sky News: "Think about what is going to happen at the end of today: the News of the World is going to be closed down, all the staff are going to be disappearing.
Mr Coulson and Goodman were released on police bail on Friday A News International spokeswoman said: "This assertion is rubbish. We adopted a documented e-mail retention policy in line with our US parent's records management policy.
"We are co-operating actively with police and have not destroyed evidence."
And the Church of England has threatened to pull its £3.7m investment from News Corporation unless senior executives are held to account for the phone-hacking scandal.
'Sad day' This comes as News of the World (NoW) staff prepare its final edition, following the announcement of its closure on Thursday.
As he made his way to work, editor Colin Myler said: "It's a very sad day. I'm thinking about my team of talented journalists."
At the scene
At the News of the World's Wapping offices staff are sombre, but determined to make their last edition one to remember.Some admit there may be tears, but also a sense of pride in producing what is likely to still be, even on its last day, Britain's best selling Sunday newspaper.
Editor Colin Myler held his morning editorial conference as usual, and now the paper's 280-strong team of reporters, sub-editors, designers and support staff are focussed on the deadline of 2015BST - traditionally the time the paper is "put to bed".
Tomorrow's final front page is being kept a closely-guarded secret - but an extra two million copies are being printed to cope with anticipated demand for a piece of newspaper history.
Chief sub-editor Alan Edwards said he was devastated at the closure of the paper, which is planning to increase its print run to five million.
"I feel sad that so many good journalists are actually going to be put on the dole because of what's happened years before they ever worked on the newspaper, so it's a very sad day," he said. Political editor David Wooding has tweeted that many people in the office were wearing black and that well-wishers had left flowers on the front steps of the building.
Former NoW editor Andy Coulson, 43 who was arrested on Friday, said it was a "very sad day" for the newspaper.
"More importantly to the staff who, in my mind, are brilliant, professional people and I really feel for them."
News International has denied reports that the paper's offices are to become a designated crime scene when journalists leave.
"Following discussions with the police, all necessary steps have been taken to secure the information necessary for their investigations," a spokesman said.
Public inquiries Mr Coulson, 43, was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and alleged corruption and former royal editor Clive Goodman, 53, who was jailed in 2007 for phone hacking, was arrested on suspicion of corruption.
An unnamed 63-year-old man was arrested at an address in Surrey on suspicion of corruption.
Remit of police investigations
- Operation Weeting - investigating phone hacking or intrusion into the private lives of hundreds of people. They aim to contact all those whose personal details were found in documents seized in 2006
- Operation Elveden - investigating alleged police corruption. Documents handed over by News International on 20 June were assessed by police as including "information relating to alleged inappropriate payments to a small number of officers".
All have been released on bail until October.
On Friday, David Cameron revealed details of two new inquiries relating to the scandal.He said the judge-led inquiry would look into "why did the first police investigation fail so abysmally; what exactly was going on at the News of the World and what was going on at other newspapers".
A second inquiry would examine the ethics and culture of the press, he added.
It has been revealed that News International's chief executive and former NoW editor, Rebekah Brooks, is no longer heading the firm's own inquiry into the scandal.
She told staff in an e-mail that those carrying out the investigation would now report to Joel Klein, a US-based senior executive at the company's owner, News Corp.
Takeover questions On Friday, Mrs Brooks held a meeting with NoW staff at its headquarters in Wapping.
A source present at the talks told the BBC she had informed staff they would eventually understand why the Sunday tabloid had to close.
She also denied closing the NoW was a "cynical ploy", and apologised for the decision.
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Rebekah Brooks' address to staff on Friday at the News of the World was captured on a secret recording
The controversy has raised questions about the proposed takeover of satellite broadcaster BSkyB by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, ultimate owner of the NoW.
Ms Harman has spoken of the power News Corporation has held over both the Labour and Conservative parties.
"Action should have been taken and could have been taken before by our government... for us there was a sense that the Murdoch empire was too powerful when we were in government," she said.
Broadcasting regulator Ofcom has written to the chairman of the Commons culture committee highlighting the watchdog's duty to ensure that anyone holding a broadcasting licence is a "fit and proper" person to do so.
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