Lord Levy, the personal fundraiser to Tony Blair, tonight complained that his arrest over the cash-for-honours inquiry had been unnecessary, disproportionate and theatrical, as he again protested his innocence.

The Prime Minister's tennis partner and close friend drove himself to Colindale police station for a second day of questioning by detectives leading the biggest political corruption inquiry for 70 years.

He left the police station at 2.25pm in his dark blue Jaguar, stopping the car to speak to waiting reporters. He said: "I’m feeling very well. I will now carry on with my usual activities and my usual role in life."

Lord Levy later issued a strongly-worded statement in which he insisted that he had always been willing to co-operate with the police, to meet them at a time of their choosing and to provide them with any documents they wanted.

The statement, released by a spokesman for Lord Levy, said: "This underlines that the arrest was unnecessary, disproportionate and, as has been described by others, entirely theatrical. The only result has been a media circus, which has distracted from the issues under consideration. We hope the police will concentrate on the investigation and bring it to a swift conclusion.

"Although any allegations remain unclear, Lord Levy wants everyone to understand that he has not been involved in any wrong-doing or assisted anyone else in any wrong-doing. We want to emphasise again that Lord Levy has not been charged with any offence and is confident he never will be."

He added that his meeting yesterday had been cut short when the police station had had to be evacuated because of a nearby fire.

Meanwhile the police chief heading the investigation appeared before a committee of MPs. John Yates, a deputy assistant commissioner, told the Public Administration Committee that 48 individuals had been questioned, 13 of them under caution. Three people had refused to co-operate.

In an 80-minute briefing behind closed doors Mr Yates told the MPs that the inquiry will last until the autumn, and that he had already submitted two files to the Crown Prosecution Service and expected to hand over a full report by the autumn.

The committee has postponed plans to question Lord Levy until the Crown Prosecution Service decides whether charges should be brought.

Mr Yates, who was accompanied by two CPS representatives, is heading a team from the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime Directorate which will sift through documents obtained from Lord Levy yesterday.

Tony Wright, the committee chairman, speaking after the briefing, was asked if Mr Blair would be questioned. He replied: "He [Mr Yates] didn’t seem like a man who would baulk at interviewing anybody. He keeps saying he will go anywhere this investigation leads."

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