SIR PAUL McCARTNEY is fighting on a second front to prevent details of his private life being dragged into court as he enters the most bitter phase of his divorce from Heather Mills.

The former Beatle is understood to be trying to halt a legal action for libel and breach of privacy by his estranged wife against two newspaper publishers. If he is unsuccessful, the case could result in a public airing of lurid details of their private life.

The case is linked to the pair’s divorce currently going through the courts. Last week McCartney failed to seal a court agreement with Mills under which she would agree to a confidentiality clause as part of a £50m divorce settlement.

The libel and privacy action relates to the leaking last year of divorce papers in a fax to news organisations. It contained claims that McCartney was violent towards Mills.

McCartney, it was alleged, had grabbed Mills’s neck, cut her arm and pushed her over a coffee table in separate incidents.

He may be called as a witness in the action against Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Mail; and News Group Newspapers, publishers of The Sun.

Sources close to the case said that if it reached court, much of the hearing was likely to be in public, although a judge may order that some parts be heard behind closed doors.

McCartney is determined to close all avenues to a public airing of details of his marriage.

“He is happy to deal with [the allegations in the fax], but only behind closed doors,” said one informed source. “That means in the divorce court.”

The allegations leaked last year were contained in papers faxed anonymously from a small shop in central London to the Associated Press agency in New York and the Press Association agency in Yorkshire.

A full-scale divorce hearing has been provisionally scheduled for the High Court in February following the stalling of last week’s talks.

McCartney’s offer of £50m if Mills agreed to maintain confidentiality about their private life is understood to include £15m to compensate her for loss of earnings from selling her story.

Mills’s friends say her refusal to accept the clause does not simply mean she is determined to reveal details of their life together in books or on talk shows.

She fears the clause may be used to prevent her defending herself if further allegations are made against her in connection with the marriage.

Contrary to some reports, the divorce hearing will be behind closed doors, a spokesman at the High Court confirmed.

If it were to reach the Court of Appeal, however, the case would become public.

McCartney is seeking a divorce from Mills on the grounds of her unreasonable behaviour.

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