A Coronation Street actor has told the High Court how he was accused of being "a mole" amid alleged phone hacking by journalists.

Michael Turner, who has appeared as Kevin Webster in the Manchester-based soap opera since 1983, is one of several individuals describing the “upsetting”, “damaging” and “long-lasting” impact of allegedly being targeted by unlawful information gathering activities.

His former Corrie co-star Nikki Sanderson also told the court that she felt like "public property" and experienced abuse.

Their representative allegations of phone hacking are being considered by a judge during the seven-week trial at the High Court which began on Wednesday.

The Northern Echo: (PA) Nikki Sanderson said she felt like 'public property' amid phone hacking allegations(PA) Nikki Sanderson said she felt like 'public property' amid phone hacking allegations (Image: PA)

The lawyers for Michael Turner, who is known professionally as Michael Le Vell, said that between 1991 and 2011, he was of "considerable interest" to Mirror Group Newspapers for his career and arrest for suspected rape (of which he was later found not guilty).

Turner's legal team added in a court document that due to his position as an informal "union rep", he was "privy to private information about his Coronation Street co-stars”.

The actor claimed that it is "likely" that voice messages left on an associate's phone were “unlawfully accessed and listened to by MGN journalists”.

His Barrister, David Sherborne said in a court document that Mr Turner had set out the "enormous" and "long-lasting" impact of these alleged activities, “explaining that Coronation Street cast members accused him of being a mole due to his position as union rep, which he was ‘absolutely devastated’ by”.

The Northern Echo: (PA) Michael Turner told the High Court how Coronation Street cast members accused him of being 'a mole'(PA) Michael Turner told the High Court how Coronation Street cast members accused him of being 'a mole' (Image: PA)

“He also became extremely paranoid and blamed people close to him for stories which were public, even abandoning his local pub as a result."

They added: “He is ‘shocked and horrified’ by MGN’s targeting of him for over 15 years.”

MGN has denied Turner's allegations, saying there is 'no evidence' of voicemail interception or unlawful information gathering related to the actor.

Sanderson's legal team said similar things in court documents, saying that the actor experienced “unusual telephone and media-related activity” consistent with “unauthorised accessing of her voicemails and other unlawful information gathering."

They also said that private information appeared in newspapers with “no legitimate explanation” as to how it was obtained.