The new chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has said the press should be held to account by a separate, self-regulating standards board.

Lord Hunt is set to present proposals for a new "standards arm" at a meeting with national and regional newspaper editors on Thursday.

He said a standards body sitting alongside an organisation with a similar complaints investigation function to the PCC would allow better self-regulation.

It would deal with broader problems of media conduct and standards, which had not been directly referred to the PCC.

He was visiting Your Local Guardian's newsroom in Sutton yesterday to discuss with journalists their views on media regulation as he formulates proposals for reforming the PCC and regulating the newspaper industry.

He said: "There should be a new body with two key roles; complaints and standards."

He said at the moment the PCC was "reactionary", only looking into newspapers conduct when a complaint was received about them.

He said: "There must be the standards to which everyone adheres that must be continually tested."

He said a standards board would allow newspapers to be more robustly audited, to ensure they were adhering to the code, even if a complaint had not been made against them.

Lord Hunt insisted self-regulation was the only way forward for the media and plans to publish his recommendations early next year in time to influence the Leveson inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press.

He said: "In a free society it's not for the state, or politicians, to regulate the press."

But he is only too aware the newspaper industry had "a major fight on its hands" if it was to dissuade politicians and the public from bringing in legislation he fears could seriously erode the ability of newspapers to report on events and hold individuals and organisations to account.

He acknowledges the public outrage over phone hacking and media harassment relates only to the national press but insists that new regulations must embrace both the national and regional press, saying a “two-tier” system of regulation would not work.

But he heaped praise on the high standards set by regional journalists such as those at Your Local Guardian.

He said: "I don’t think in my 35 years in Parliament I personally came across any instance where anyone working in the regional press fell below the highest standards."