McCartney backs wife

Sir Paul McCartney has launched a savage internet attack on media critics of his wife, branding them "malevolent and ridiculous", after an article suggested that she had benefited from losing her leg.

On Heather Mills McCartney's official website, Sir Paul lambasted a recent claim in the Sunday Times magazine that "losing her leg was perhaps the best thing that ever happened to Heather as it fed her desire for self-publicity".

Lady McCartney had her left leg severed below the knee after being struck by a vehicle in 1993.

But since meeting and falling in love with Sir Paul six years later, she has been accused of controlling his life and coming between the 62-year-old singer and his children by his first wife, Linda.