News International has 100 mln pound hacking legal fund: report

LONDON (Reuters) - The British arm of News Corp has increased the legal fund it will use to settle civil litigation cases brought by victims of phone hacking to 100 million pounds ($155 million) from 20 million, the Independent newspaper reported on Thursday.

Rupert Murdoch's News International has earmarked the money to settle several high-profile cases, with some settlements expected to be well over 1 million pounds apiece, said the newspaper, citing sources close to the situation.

A News International spokeswoman called the 100 million pound figure "purely speculative."

News International has settled legal claims by a number of high profile public figures but is still negotiating a host of further claims after it admitted hacking the phones of celebrities, politicians and victims of crime.

($1=0.6465 British pounds)

(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien, Georgina Prodhan; Editing by David Holmes and Mike Nesbit)