Actor Hugh Grant has settled a privacy case against the publisher of the Sun newspaper, saying he could have faced a bill of up to £10m even if he had won.

The star was suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), claiming journalists had used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house.

He said he "did not want to accept" the "enormous sum of money" he had been offered to settle - but that a trial was likely to prove "very expensive".

NGN denied the claims against it.

The company said the undisclosed settlement was reached "without admission of liability" and that it was "in both parties financial interests not to progress to a costly trial".

After the unexpected resolution, which was revealed at a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, Grant posted a statement explaining that continuing to fight the case risked making him liable for substantial legal costs.

Money to be 'repurposed'

"I would love to see all the allegations that they deny tested in court," he wrote.

"But the rules around civil litigation mean that if I proceed to trial and the court awards me damages that are even a penny less than the settlement offer, I would have to pay the legal costs of both sides.

"My lawyers tell me that that is exactly what would most likely happen here. Rupert Murdoch's lawyers are very expensive. So even if every allegation is proven in court, I would still be liable for something approaching £10 million in costs. I'm afraid I am shying at that fence."

The actor added the money had a "stink" about it, and therefore the funds he has received will be "repurposed via groups like Hacked Off into the general campaign to expose the worst excesses of our oligarch-owned press".

Grant's was one of several cases that were eligible to go to trial at London's High Court in January.

The actor, alongside Prince Harry, was suing NGN for alleged widespread unlawful information gathering. The prince is continuing his legal battle with the company.

Phone hacking fallout

Grant is best known for films such as Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually and Paddington 2, and has also been a prominent campaigner on press reform since the phone-hacking scandal emerged more than a decade ago.

He previously brought a case against NGN in relation to the now-defunct News of the World tabloid, which was settled in 2012.

That came a year after the newspaper was shut down by media mogul Murdoch following a public backlash to hacking revelations.

NGN has rejected allegations of wrongdoing by staff at the Sun, and has settled more than 1,000 cases without making any admission of liability.

Anthony Hudson KC, representing NGN, told at a hearing on Wednesday there were "currently 42 extant claims... that follows the recent settlement of Mr Grant's claim".

'Commercial sense'

In a statement, a NGN spokesperson said: "In 2011, an unreserved apology was made by NGN to victims of voicemail interception by the News of the World. Since then, NGN has been paying financial damages to those with proper claims.

"As we reach the tail end of litigation, NGN is drawing a line under disputed matters, some of which date back more than 20 years ago. In some cases, it has made commercial sense for both parties to come to a settlement agreement before trial to bring a resolution to the matter.

"There are a number of disputed claims still going through the civil courts some of which seek to involve The Sun. The Sun does not accept liability or make any admissions to the allegations.

"A judge recently ruled that parts of Mr Grant's claim were out of time and we have reached agreement to settle the remainder of the case. This has been done without admission of liability. It is in both parties financial interests not to progress to a costly trial."