Hurley turns down Bing's offer of £1.8m

In the latest twist of their acrimonious paternity row, Steve Bing offered yesterday to pay £100,000 a year to support the baby he fathered with Liz Hurley, but Ms Hurley said the money was "not wanted or welcome" and she would refuse to accept it.

Mr Bing, a film producer and heir to a Los Angeles real estate fortune, secured an order in the London High Court requiring him to pay £1.8m in support for his son Damian until he turns 18. He had sought the order after the confirmation earlier this year, through DNA testing, that he was indeed Damian's father.

"Mr Bing is delighted that the matter has been concluded and that he is able to honor his pledge to make generous provision for his son," a statement made on his behalf said.

But Ms Hurley, a model, actress and film producer, countered immediately that she was not interested.

"I have always made it perfectly clear to Stephen Bing, the father of my son Damian, that I don't want any financial help from him whatsoever," she said in a statement of her own.

"It appears that one cannot stop someone trying to give you money. Fortunately, one can refuse to accept it."

A spokeswoman for Mr Bing said the money was not hers to turn down, because it would be paid into a trust in Damian's name.

When Ms Hurley first announced that she was pregnant, Mr Bing cast doubt on whether he was the father, intimating that she might have been seeing other men at the same time. After Damian's birth in April, Mr Bing initiated the process that led to the DNA testand established his paternity.