A further fifteen phone hacking cases have been settled by News International in the High Court today. Statements from claimants including the actor Steve Coogan and former footballer Paul Gascoigne were read in court before Mr Justice Vos.

Coogan, who appeared in court to accept £40,000 damages plus costs, gave a statement to the press following the hearing. He said: ""I am pleased that after two years of argument and denials, News International has finally agreed to settle my case against it for hacking my voicemails. It has been a very stressful and time-consuming experience for me and for those close to me."

This has never been about money. Like other people who have sued I was determined to do my part to show the depths to which the press can sink in pursuit of private information."

The court heard Coogan was contacted by Vodafone and told a man posing as the actor had attempted to obtain his personal information several times. Documents recovered from Glenn Mulcaire showed the private investigator had collected Coogan's mobile phone number, account number and password, and phone numbers of friends and colleagues.

Schillings, representing the actor over his claim, issued a statement:"NGN has now apologised to Steve, has agreed that it won’t target Steve in this way again and has agreed to pay Steve substantial damages and his legal costs."

Gascoigne accepted £60,000, "special damages" of £8,000 and legal costs. His statement said he apologised for wrongly suspecting those close to him of leaking information to the press. His friend, James "Jimmy Five Bellies" Gardner accepted substantial damages plus costs.

Simon Hughes MP accepted £45,000 plus costs and Alastair Campbell, former spin doctor to Tony Blair, was awarded substantial damages plus costs. In his statement, Hughes said he would receive around 20 "highly sensitive" voicemail messages a day from colleagues and friends, and became suspicious when he came across stored messages he had not listened to. Mulcaire had recorded transcripts of messages and private details. Other claimants settling today were Sally King, who had a friendship with David Blunkett (£60,000 plus costs), her husband Andrew King (£50,000 plus costs), her father John Anderson (undisclosed damages plus costs) and brother Scott Anderson (undisclosed damages plus costs). The family said they had been put under "intense and sustained physical surveillance" as a result of having voicemails hacked.

Phillip Hughes, the agent and friend of late footballer George Best, accepted substantial damages plus costs, sports agent Sky Andrew £75,000 plus costs and former MP George Galloway £25,000 plus costs. A joint statement was read to the court from journalist Dennis Rice, his wife and sister, dancer Laura Rooney, football agent Michael McGuire and Sheila Henry, a mother bereaved by the 7/7 bombings, who all received substantial undisclosed damages. Cases involving singer Pete Doherty, Tracey Temple, who had a relationship with Lord Prescott, jockey Kieren Fallon and racing trainer Samantha Wallin also settled but did not have statements read in court.

The judge heard a further five civil cases will be brought by indiviudals including singer James Blunt, footballers Kieron Dyer and Peter Crouch, and Crouch's wife Abbey Clancy.

The case of the singer Charlotte Church, her mother Maria Church and father James Church has not been settled and willgo to trial later this month, on February 27.