The couple claimed the photos were taken 'surreptitiously'

Hollywood stars Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas appear set for a new legal action with the media, this time over photographs of the Swansea-born actress topless while pregnant.

The stars have consulted their lawyers about pictures on an American broadcaster's website which appear to show the 33-year-old actress shortly before she gave birth to the couple's second child, their daughter Carys, last month.

One of the photographs published by the US radio operator Clear Channel Worldwide apparently shows the Oscar-winning actress smoking a cigarette.

Damages

The couple accuse the firm of "continued malicious conduct" for allowing the photos to be posted on its internet site, thesmokinggun.com

A three-page letter from their lawyers to Clear Channel, claims the shots were "surreptitiously taken" while the star was relaxing on a private estate in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

The lawyers' letter claims the pictures were an invasion of the stars' privacy and warned the couple could be awarded "substantial" damages.

Catherine Zeta Jones was pregnant when she picked up her Oscar

The US media's interest in the powerful Tinseltown pair has continued with the first picture of the couple's new baby.

The magazine Star used a long lens to taken a shot of Carys asleep in her mother's arms and published the picture on the cover of its latest issue.

Last month the legal action by the Hollywood couple against Hello! magazine over the publication of unauthorised photographs of their wedding ended with both sides claiming victory.

The High Court judge ruled Hello! breached the couple's rights of confidence but said they had no claim in law on an invasion of privacy.