LONDON - Actor Hugh Grant says police have asked him to testify at an inquiry into allegations that a tabloid newspaper hacked into the phones of newsmakers, including celebrities and a murder victim.

The actor has often claimed he believes his phone was hacked by News of the World. He told Sky News on Wednesday that he was happy to work with police but also backed calls for an independent inquiry.

Grant wrote an article in The New Statesman earlier this year revealing that he secretly taped a conversation with former News of the World journalist Paul McMullan, who admitted that the tabloid employed people to hack into mobile phones.

The scandal has accelerated this week, raising calls for executives at News Corp., which owns the paper, to resign.