WWW- Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher is to sue a British newspaper over “sex romp” allegations, her solicitors announced today.

The Hollywood actress has instructed London law firm Schillings to issue and serve libel proceedings in the UK against the publishers of the Daily Sport.

The legal proceedings will concern recent articles which Ms Hatcher, 40, maintains falsely alleged that she engages in sex romps on a regular basis with a series of men in a VW van parked outside her LA home for this purpose.

The allegations made in the tabloid were repeated “extensively elsewhere in many countries”, said Schillings.

In a statement issued today, the law firm said: “The Sport additionally allege that Ms Hatcher does this so as not to be caught by her seven-year-old daughter during such sexual activity.

“Ms Hatcher is a single mother who naturally takes a pride in protecting and bringing up her daughter at home in a caring and responsible way, and bitterly refutes these offensive allegations.”

The case is expected to go to jury trial at London’s High Court next year, if it is not settled earlier.