A complaint from Victoria Beckham was resolved with an apology

Most of the 3,650 complaints or 92.5% were from members of the public, 4.8% from organisations or public bodies and just 2.7% from famous people.

The number of rulings made under the PCC's code of practice rose slightly to 924, its annual report said.

But there was a 40% increase - up to 348 - in the number of complaints resolved without formal adjudication.

Resolution included printing corrections or apologies from publications.

Apology for Beckham

"I think that bears testimony to the success of the conciliation process," said PCC chairman Sir Christopher Meyer.

A complaint from David and Victoria Beckham was resolved without adjudication after the newspaper printed an apology.

The disputed report said they had bought a pair of �25,000 diamond earrings for their son Brooklyn.

Of the possible breaches of the code, 76% were resolved last year - an increase of 12% on 2004. In 22% of cases the PCC negotiated offers from the publication, even if the complainant was not happy with the outcome.

In the remaining 2% of cases complaints were upheld because editors not accepted the proposed resolution.

Accuracy prompted more than two-thirds of complaints, while 12.5% related to privacy issues.