Actress Kate Winslet is demanding libel damages of £150,000 over a story in the Daily Mail.

Winslet, 33, is suing Associated Newspapers over a story headed: "Should Kate Winslet win an Oscar for the World's most irritating actress?" which she claims was defamatory.

In the opening line of her writ, Winslet describes herself as a "world-renowned Oscar-winning actress" after her triumph at the Academy Awards for her part in the film The Reader.

She accuses the paper of claiming she had lied publicly about her exercise regime, and says she has been distressed and embarrassed by the story, which also seriously injured her personal and professional reputation.

Mother of two Winslet says she was particularly upset by the very unpleasant and nasty way in which the article was written.

The Daily Mail has refused to give an undertaking that it will not repeat the allegations, according to a High Court writ.

Winslet says that unless the paper provides a satisfactory undertaking, she will seek an injunction banning repetition of the claims.