The News of the World (NoW) hired an ex-police officer to follow two lawyers acting for victims of phone-hacking, according to a report by the BBC’s Newsnight.

Taylor Hampton solicitor advocate Mark Lewis and Mishcon de Reya media lawyer Charlotte Harris (pictured) are both understood to have been followed by private investigator Derek Webb during the past 18 months in a bid to prove that they were in a relationship and were sharing confidential information.