Reach, the publisher of the Mirror and Express newspapers, has cut the amount set aside to deal with legal claims relating to phone hacking and unlawful information-gathering by £20m as it seeks to draw a line under the scandal.
The company, which owns scores of newspapers and websites across the UK including the Express, the Daily Record, the Manchester Evening News and the Liverpool Echo, said it had set aside £18.2m to deal with such claims, which it said was its best estimate of the amount needed to settle the long-running legal controversy.
