SAINTS chairman Rupert Lowe is taking legal action against two newspapers, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Two writs have been lodged at London's High Court by lawyers acting on behalf of Mr Lowe, who has been in charge at Southampton Football Club since 1997.

Between them they claim more than £300,000 in damages for libel.

The 46-year-old is suing Associated Newspapers Ltd, publishers of the Evening Standard, for damages of more than £150,000 following an article published last summer.

Mr Lowe claims that the Evening Standard libelled him in the David Mellor column of the newspaper on August 27, 2004.

Mr Mellor is the controversial former Conservative Cabinet minister and well-known commentator on football issues who has hosted a national radio phone-in show and headed the Football Task Force, set up in the 1990s to compile a report into the future of soccer in the UK.

The article, which the Daily Echo is unable to reproduce for legal reasons, also appeared on the Evening Standard's website, www.thisislondon.com, from the same date.

In a second writ against Times Newspapers Ltd, Mr Lowe is also claiming damages exceeding £150,000.

The writ alleges Mr Lowe was libelled in an article entitled "Men Who Would Be Kings Are a Ghastly Alternative", which appeared in The Times on August 11, 2004.

It is understood the same article also featured on the newspaper's website, www.thetimes.co.uk.

Mr Lowe is also seeking injunctions against both newspapers, preventing them from publishing any of the content of either article in the future.

Both writs give Mr Lowe's address as St Mary's Stadium, Britannia Road, Southampton.

They were filed in the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court by solicitors acting for Mr Lowe.

A High Court spokesman confirmed the two writs had been served and said no further action had yet been taken.

Mr Lowe's London solicitors, Mishcon de Reya in London, said they were unable to discuss the case due to client confidentiality. However, a spokeswoman confirmed the matter was ongoing.

Mr Lowe was chairman of Secure Retirement PLC, the listed company whose reverse takeover of Saints in January 1997 enabled the club to be floated on the stock exchange.

The city businessman had only watched his first professional football match six months before.

Six months later, in June 1997, he took over the chairmanship of the club from Guy Askham.

His time at the helm has been turbulent with Mr Lowe having to ride a wave of criticism from fans despite the club reaching the FA Cup final in May 2003 and playing in Europe the following season.

Other successes include his key role in delivering the widely praised £32m St Mary's Stadium, where Saints moved from The Dell in August 2001.

Mr Lowe is a former pupil at exclusive Oxfordshire public school Radley College, where pupils learn to play rugby rather than football.

Along with wife Nicky and their four children, he lives in a Gloucestershire farmhouse, deep in the heart of the Cotswolds.