The British Prime Minister's press secretary, Alastair Campbell, has criticised the British media for being too critical of NATO during the bombing campaign against Yugoslavia.

Speaking in London, Mr Campbell said British reports had focussed too strongly on NATO mistakes, like the bombing of a refugee convoy, and been too critical of the NATO spokesman, Jamie Shea.

He said the media had failed to respond adequately to the disinformation put about by what he called the Milosevic lie machine.

As a result, he said, there had been a risk of eroding British public support for the bombing campaign.

Mr Campbell also criticised reporters for making too little effort to enter Kosovo to report directly on Serb atrocities.