Among those on the hitlist of the tabloid reporters were John Prescott, former deputy prime minister, Tessa Jowell, Minister for Cabinet office, Boris Johnson, Mayor of Landon, Gwyneth Paltrow, actress and Nigella Lawson, a chef.

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard has refused to reinvestigate the phone-hacking allegations, insisting there was no new evidence of wrong doing.

According to the report, lists of hundreds of people's names were recovered from Mulcaire's home. They were seen as a potential "hitlist" of targets for phonetapping.

The new allegations led to intense pressure yesterday on Andy Coulson, Tory leader David Cameron's communication's chief, who resigned as editor of the 'News of the World' as a result of the original scandal.