Sting is being sued for millions by his The Police bandmates

A source told The Sun newspaper: "This has been coming for quite some time. Lawyers tried repeatedly to reach an out-of-court settlement but hit a stalemate.

"Andy and Stewart decided there was no alternative than court so pressed the button. They say they are owed millions in lost royalties."

The pair presented Sting with a High Court writ and the case has been listed at London's High Court under "general commercial contracts and arrangements".

Sting appears as a defendant under his real name, Gordon Matthew Sumner, while his firm Magnetic Publishing Limited is also listed.

The band formed in 1977 and split in the mid-1980s.

They surprised fans by returning with a reunion tour between 2007 and 2008, where they played 151 dates worldwide.

But, despite its success, Sting has admitted he regrets the reunion tour.

He previously told Reader's Digest: "At the time I labelled the tour an exercise in nostalgia. That was simply how I felt and is still how I feel today.

"I think it's OK to be honest about your feelings and that was the way it went for me."

"That's not a slight on the people I was with or the way things panned out, it's just how I saw it by the end, and let's be honest, that's not how I wanted to remember it.

"If I thought that would be the emotion I'd be leaving with, I wouldn't have done it in the first place.

""I think there is a freedom in being a solo artist. It's not a power thing, at all, it's just about producing exactly the brand and style of music that feels right for you.

"Music, in every form, is a collaborative process, but never more so than in a band, where you have to consider other people almost more than you do yourself. To have total career freedom is, for me, the ultimate thrill of being a solo artist."