Coogan receives hacking payout

Actor Steve Coogan has accepted £40,000 in damages over the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

The funnyman was targeted by a private investigator working for the now-defunct tabloid and his cell phone voicemail messages were allegedly intercepted.

Coogan had been one of the leading lights in a campaign to expose practices at the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sunday newspaper, and on Wednesday he was among a group of nine claimants who agreed a settlement with parent company News International.

Others stars involved in the case include former football ace Paul Gascoigne, who accepted £68,000 in damages - but London's High Court heard singer Charlotte Church is still pursuing her legal action against the newspaper's owners.