Dead soldiers' families 'hacked by newspaper'

Mobile phones owned by relatives of UK soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan may have been hacked by the News of the World, it is being reported.

hacked

The Daily Telegraph claims the phone numbers of relatives of dead service personnel were found in the files of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.   It comes after Prime Minister David Cameron said he would set up a public inquiry into alleged phone hacking.

The Royal British Legion has dropped the paper as its campaigning partner.  The services charity said it was "shocked to the core" by the claims and was reviewing its advertising budget with the paper's owner News International, which also publishes The Sun and The Times.  News International said it would be "absolutely appalled and horrified" if there was any truth in the allegations relating to families of dead soldiers and it would be immediately contacting the Ministry of Defence.

A spokesman for the company said: "News International's record as a friend of the armed services and of our servicemen and servicewomen, is impeccable.