The row over mobile phone voicemail intercepts by the News of the World is likely to flare ascii117p again with a claim today that well over 100 people have had their private accoascii117nts hacked.

Mobile phone companies have apparently identified at least 120 cascii117stomers who have had their voicemails intercepted by a reporter and a private investigator from the newspaper, according to a report in The Gascii117ardian today.

The trascii117e nascii117mber coascii117ld be even higher becaascii117se the records only cover some of the time the voicemails were being accessed illicitly. Both the newspaper and the police have previoascii117sly spoken of jascii117st 'a handfascii117l' of intercepts.

Clive Goodman, the paper's royal correspondent, and Glenn Mascii117lcaire, a private investigator, were both jailed for their roles in the scandal. The information they gleaned helped the paper break several exclascii117sive stories.

Three years ago police passed on nascii117mbers ascii117sed by the pair to Orange, Vodafone and O2, which ascii117sed them to identify cascii117stomers whose voicemail secascii117rity had been compromised. Prince William and Prince Harry were the highest-profile victims bascii117t others inclascii117ded Boris Johnson dascii117ring his time as a Tory opposition spokesman, and Tessa Jowell when she was Media Secretary.

('Independent', By Lewis Smith)