The damages paid out by Mirror Group Newspapers to eight victims of phone-hacking were "out of all proportion" to the gravity of the harm done, the Court of Appeal has heard.

MGN is appealing against Mr Justice Mann's ruling, in May, which saw the payment of record compensation, totalling about £1.2m, as a result of the invasions of privacy concerned being "so serious and so prolonged".

All of the awards exceeded the previous highest sum given by a UK court in a privacy case – the £60,000 won by former Formula 1 boss Max Mosley, who successfully sued the now defunct News of the World in 2008 – and are expected to provide a framework for resolving similar civil actions in the pipeline.