Sir Elton John and Prince Harry have joined several public figures taking legal action against the publisher of the Daily Mail, alleging “gross breaches of privacy”.

The Duke of Sussex, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and actresses Sadie Frost and Elizabeth Hurley have also filed cases against Associated Newspapers Ltd, the BBC reports.

The company’s alleged activity includes having listening devices secretly placed inside people’s cars and homes.

A press release from Harry’s legal firm Hamlins said the public figures had been the victims of “abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by Associated Newspapers”.

The breaches included placing listening devices inside cars and homes, bugging phone calls, paying police for information and impersonating individuals to obtain medical records.

“They have now therefore banded together to uncover the truth, and to hold the journalists responsible fully accountable, many of whom still hold senior positions of authority and power today,” the Hamlins statement said.

Hamlins said it was representing Prince Harry and Frost. Hurley, Sir Elton and his husband David Furnish and Baroness Lawrence are represented by the gunnercooke law firm.

A spokesman for ANL described the allegations as “preposterous smears”.

“We utterly and unambiguously refute these preposterous smears, which appear to be nothing more than a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone-hacking scandal concerning articles up to 30 years old,” the newspaper group said in a statement.

“These unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims – based on no credible evidence – appear to be simply a fishing expedition by claimants and their lawyers, some of whom have already pursued cases elsewhere.”

Hamlins said the individuals had become aware of “highly distressing” evidence that they had been victims of privacy breaches.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have already brought several lawsuits against Associated Newspapers publications.

The Duke of Sussex launched action in February against the Mail on Sunday for libel and last year won damages from the same paper over claims he had turned his back on the Royal Marines.

Meghan won a privacy case against the publisher last December for printing a letter she had written to her estranged father.