London, July 20 (IANS) The News International group acted "quickly and decisively" in dealing with "abhorrent" phone hacking at the News of the World, the company's former chief executive Rebekah Brooks told British MPs.

The former News of the World editor said Tuesday the company moved to settle civil cases when claims by actress Sienna Miller emerged in 2010, BBC reported.

Brooks said she was "shocked" at reports that the tabloid's journalists had hacked murder victim Milly Dowler's phone.

She told the media committee she was always told hacking claims were untrue.

"We had been told by people at News of the World at the time - they consistently denied any of these allegations in various internal investigations," she was quoted as saying.

"It was only when we saw the Sienna Miller documentation that we realised the severity of the situation."

Brooks's evidence came after her former boss Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News International's parent company News Corp, and his son, News International chairman James Murdoch, appeared before the Commons Committee on Culture, Media and Sport.

The public were excluded during Brooks' hearing after an attempted assault on Rupert Murdoch. There were rows of empty seats.