Frank Bruno, the former boxing champion, and his girlfriend today accepted £50,000 in damages from a Sunday tabloid over a false claim that their relationship had ended.

Bruno, 44, who won the world heavyweight title in 1995, and Yvonne Clydesdale, the mother of his three-month-old daughter, sued The People over an article in April that alleged Bruno had dumped Miss Clydesdale days before she was due to give birth, saying that he had treated her in a "cold, callous and heartless" manner.

The newspaper also claimed that Bruno was ignoring her phone calls because he was convinced that she was only after his money.

"All these allegations are false," Magnus Boyd, of Carter Ruck, the couple's lawyer, told the court today as a settlement was announced.

Mr Boyd added that the sensational nature of the allegations and the timing of the article, with Miss Clydesdale about to give birth, caused significant distress at a sensitive time in the claimants' lives.

Mirror Group Newspapers, the publisher of The People, accepted that the allegations were untrue and had published an apology, which was read in open court. It agreed to pay Bruno and Miss Clydesdale compensation and costs amounting to £50,000.

Mr Boyd confirmed that the couple would split the damages equally. Neither was in court.

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