Mirror faces phone-hack claims

Four people are taking action against the publishers of the Daily Mirror over alleged phone hacking.

Media lawyer Mark Lewis said he was acting for all four claimants - former England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, Coronation Street actress Shobna Gulati, Abbie Gibson, a former nanny for the Beckham family, and Garry Flitcroft, the former captain of Blackburn Rovers football team.

The allegations related to newspapers in the Mirror Group Newspapers stable - the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People, he said.

The claims allege breach of confidence and misuse of private information relating to the interception and/or misuse of mobile phone voicemail messages and/or the interception of telephone accounts.

It is thought to be the first time that actions over alleged phone hacking have been launched against newspapers outside Rupert Murdoch's News International.