Mills: Paul admitted to hitting Linda

Heather Mills played a tape yesterday on which she claims Sir Paul McCartney confesses to hitting his first wife Linda.

McCartney's estranged wife went on a tour of TV and radio stations yesterday to complain about the media backlash against her.

During one interview she shocked witnesses when she played the recording off-camera, according to newspaper reports.

One witness said: "It was quite extraordinary. There were raised voices. Heather and Paul were shouting. Paul can be heard confessing he hit Linda 'once or twice'.

"No one knew what to do. It was astonishing stuff and seemed to back up Heather's claim that she's the victim in all of this."

A spokesperson for the Beatle has not commented on the reports.

During one television interview yesterday on GMTV, Mills appeared to break down and claimed that she was being treated in the same way as Princess Diana and Kate McCann by the media.