Former cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell is suing The Sun over a report which claimed he called police officers “plebs”, the BBC said.
Tory MP Mitchell was forced to stand down as chief whip in October after police claimed he verbally abused them when an officer stopped him from cycling out of the main gates of Downing Street a month earlier.
The politician has admitted swearing but has always denied he used the word “pleb.”
A source close to Mitchell told the BBC: “The writ is to address the campaign of vilification by the Sun newspaper against him.
“He felt that a point had to be made. It is always risky suing newspapers but he felt he had no alternative.”
Earlier, police investigating the incident said they had passed evidence to prosecutors, the BBC report said.
So far four people, including three police officers, have been arrested as part of the investigation into the incident, the BBC said.
A Sun spokesman responded: “We stand by our story and will defend this claim vigorously”.
Mitchell to sue Sun over 'pleb' report
