Leslie Ash and Lee Chapman settle hack claim

Celebrity couple Leslie Ash and Lee Chapman have settled their phone hacking claim against the News of the World - and now plan to take action against other newspapers.

The actress and the former footballer sued the now-closed Sunday tabloid over fears that it illegally listened to their voicemails while Ash was recovering from a superbug in hospital in 2004.

The couple said they were "pleased" the claims they and their sons brought against the paper's publishers, News Group Newspapers, and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire had been settled.

But they added that they believe phone hacking also went on at other media organisations and intend to bring claims against other papers.

Ash and Chapman said in a statement: "We are pleased to say that our and our sons' claims against News Group Newspapers (NGN) Limited and Mr Mulcaire have been resolved.

"NGN has agreed to pay our family an appropriate sum by way of compensation and costs and it has apologised for the harm and distress it has caused us.

"However, we remain concerned that the practices complained of against NGN are likely to have been prevalent within a number of other media publishers, and we will be instructing our lawyer, Charlotte Harris of Mishcon De Reya, to take action against other newspapers in due course."

The couple revealed in January that police investigating phone hacking at the News of the World had found documents listing their names, addresses and phone numbers as well as the mobile details of their children.

They said they feared highly personal voicemails left by their sons were intercepted while former Men Behaving Badly star Ash was recovering at home after contracting the MSSA infection, a strain of the superbug MRSA, in hospital in 2004.

News International declined to comment.

PA