Charlotte Church settles phone hacking claim, reports say

Singer Charlotte Church has reached a settlement over her phone-hacking claim against News Group Newspapers, according to reports today.

The BBC reports that Church's settlement was announced today at a hearing in the high court, understood to have related to potential reporting restrictions for next week's trial of test cases.

The trial "had been due to consider claims that 33 articles in the now defunct News of the World were the product of hacking into voicemails", the BBC reports.

It is also widely reported that a hearing could still take place next Monday to discuss the settlement in more detail.

Earlier this month News International agreed a further 15 settlements for individuals who claimed their phones had been hacked, including ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne and comedian Steve Coogan. This followed 37 other claims which were settled by News Group Newspapers in January.

It was also confirmed that Cherie Blair had issued a claim of alleged phone hacking against the publisher of the News of the World this week. Another 56 new claims were also confirmed in the high court earlier this month.

News International had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing.

Church appeared before the Leveson inquiry into the press last year, where she talked about the impact of press coverage of her and her family.

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