The telephone records of West Ham Unted vice-chairman Karren Brady were “unlawfully obtained by subterfuge”, a High Court judge said today.

Mr Justice Coulson said the records belonging to Ms Brady were obtained during a dispute over the future use of the Olympic Stadium at Stratford. He said copies found their way to a firm of accountants - PKF - engaged by Tottenham Hotspur.

The judge outlined what he called basic facts at a hearing after Ms Brady began legal action.

The judge was told that Tottenham Hotspur had been given copies of the records by PKF. But lawyers for Tottenham Hotspur said no one at the club had the records prior to the start of legal proceedings.

Tottenham have vigorously denied they employed PKF to carry out any form of spying or illegal practice on Brady, other employees of West Ham or board members of the Olympic Park Legacy Company.

Mr Justice Coulson will hear more details about the case at a further High Court hearing in London next Wednesday.

Lawyers for PKF argued that today’s hearing should have been held in private to prevent the “risk of misreporting.”.

But the judge said the hearing would be in public.

Both clubs were embroiled in a legal dispute after the the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) opted for a bid put forward by West Ham United.

Tottenham said the decision was unfair and mounted a High Court challenge against the OPLC’s decision.

But the legal action was halted in October after the OPLC said it had decided to discontinue the process to dispose of the stadium and instead allow it to remain in public ownership and be rented out.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said yesterday that moving to the stadium was no longer a viable option for the club