The News of the World spied on two prominent lawyers who were representing victims of phone hacking, it was revealed tonight.
The newspaper, which folded earlier this year, hired a private investigator to tail Mark Lewis and Charlotte Harris and record their movements.
The investigator, named by the BBC as Derek Webb, who ran a private investigations firm called Silent Shadow, also filmed members of Mr Lewis's family on a shopping trip, it was reported.
A News International spokesman said tonight: 'News International's inquiries have led the company to believe that Mark Lewis and Charlotte Harris were subject to surveillance.
While surveillance is not illegal, it was clearly deeply inappropriate in these circumstances.
This action was not condoned by any current executive at the company.
Mr Lewis represented the family of Milly Dowler, whose mobile phone was hacked by the paper when she went missing in 2002.
And Ms Harris is a high-profile media lawyer, acting for several people who have complained of their phones being hacked, including football agent Sky Andrew.
The private investigator told the BBC he was owed compensation from the News of the World for his loyalty following eight years of service, but he had not received any.
Mr Webb, whose background is in police surveillance and who reportedly once attended an MI5 training course, said he was commissioned by the paper to carry out surveillance on Mr Lewis and his former assistant Ms Harris early last year.
He was paid to go to Manchester, where the two solicitors were based, the BBC reported.
The broadcaster said on one occasion Mr Webb followed Mr Lewis's former wife and his daughter, filming them visiting shops and a garden centre before trailing them in a car as they returned home.
He also filmed members of Mr Lewis's family on a shopping trip.
The surveillance took place during the past 18 months when James Murdoch was executive chairman.
Mr Lewis told BBC's Newsnight programme he was "devastated" on two levels to hear the revelations.
'To follow my teenage daughter, my youngest daughter, and video her is nothing short of sick,' he said.
On another level, looking at me, that's not how you litigate. You play the ball, you don't play the man... this is Mafia-like.
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