A FORMER Southampton mayor had his mobile phone hacked by the News of the World, the Daily Echo can reveal today.

Investigators tapped into John Slade’s phone as they trawled for gossip about his daughter Mel and her football star boyfriend Theo Walcott.

Detectives investigating the phone hacking scandal broke the news to the 70-year-old, pictured below, who joins victims including celebrities and politicians.

Mr Slade said he was contacted as part of Operation Weeting, the Metropolitan Police’s investigation into phone-hacking and will now be taking legal action.

The 70-year-old said the issue with News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that published the News of the World, was now in the hands of his lawyer.

The Metropolitan Police called him out of the blue to drop the bombshell that during 2005 and 2006, private investigator Glenn Mulcaire was alleged to have targeted him too.

He said: “I was very surprised.

“We don’t court any publicity and Mel and Theo keep a low profile as you know.”

Read the full story in today's Daily Echo