DAVID Cameron is at risk of betraying the public by not keeping his “solemn promises” made years ago to crack down on press intrusion, victims have claimed.

Gerry and Kate McCann, who have received libel damages over false stories linked to their daughter Madeleine's disappearance in 2007, are among a number of signatories to a letter urging the Prime Minister to honour his pledge to create a system of newspaper regulation that had “real teeth”.

Five years on from the Leveson inquiry into press intrusion, Mr McCann said victims felt "pushed to one side" and that "very little” had changed.

"Section 40 of the Royal Charter hasn't been implemented and the Prime Minister promised us publicly, privately, that victims' views on press reforms would remain at the centre of this; we feel very much that we've been pushed to one side and the centre ground is being taken by the media owners."

The Glaswegian said he did not know any victims of the press who thought that the new watchdog, the Independent Press Standards Organisation(Ipso), was fit for purpose.

He suggested the only reason he could see for the ongoing delay was a conflict of interest, noting how the Prime Minister had “acknowledged previously that the relationship between media and politicians became far too cosy".

Mr McCann added: "We're imploring him, it's not too late to do the right thing. His name is on the Royal Charter, he signed it, this is a cross-party agreement; I don't see any reason not to implement it.”

The UK Government was accused of reneging on the recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry after Culture Secretary John Whittingdale announced last year that he was considering scrapping plans, which had been part of a cross-party agreement, to force newspapers to pay court costs in libel and privacy cases irrespective of whether they won or lost.

The signatories of the letter - who also included relatives of people who died at Hillsborough, victims of the 7/7 terror attacks and Christopher Jefferies, who was wrongly accused of the murder of Joanna Yeates - said Mr Cameron had refused to meet them over the issue of when so-called Leveson 2 - into what went wrong with the original police probe into phone hacking - would take place while he had had regular meetings with newspaper proprietors, including Rupert Murdoch.

Labour’s Maria Eagle, the Shadow Culture Secretary, also said it was time for Mr Cameron to deliver on his promise to the public and the UK Parliament to implement all of the Leveson recommendations.

“By pretending it is business as usual and backtracking on Leveson, the Tories are deliberately turning a blind eye to serious allegations of high-level corruption and collusion between the press, the police, politicians and the judiciary,” she said.

A spokesman for the Culture Department said: "No decision has been taken about when to commence the cost provisions; the matter is still under consideration.”

He stressed that Mr Whittingdale wanted to consult further with various groups and denied he was delaying implementation of Section 40 because he was being leant on by the newspaper industry.

As for Leveson 2, the spokesman added that this could not begin until all the criminal cases had been completed and that some were still to be concluded.

No 10 was approached for a comment but did not give one.