David and Victoria Beckham say they have called in lawyers over tabloid allegations that the England soccer captain was unfaithful to his pop star wife.

In a brief statement, the celebrity couple dismissed what they called "absurd and unsubstantiated claims".

On Sunday, a newspaper printed allegations from a second woman who claimed to have had an affair with Beckham.

Beckham had already dismissed as "ludicrous" claims from his former personal secretary Rebecca Loos that she had had sex with the 28-year-old midfielder in Madrid.

A spokeswoman for the Beckhams said: "This weekend a series of even more absurd and unsubstantiated claims have been published about David and Victoria Beckham."

In the statement released through the Press Association news agency, she added: "The couple continue to dismiss these stories and they will not be commenting upon them further at this time.

"Lawyers have been instructed by David and Victoria concerning these matters."

The statement revealed no details about what those instructions were.

The media frenzy surrounding the marriage has reached fever pitch over the past week. Paparazzi have been camped outside their country home, dubbed "Beckingham Palace", since the couple returned to Britain early on Monday.

On Sunday the News of the World printed lurid allegations dating back to July 2001 -- just two years after Beckham's marriage to former Spice Girl Victoria Adams.

It described Sarah Marbeck as a 29-year-old barrister's daughter and said she had met Beckham in Singapore during a Manchester United pre-season tour of the Asia-Pacific region.

The newspaper also carried an interview with Loos, 26. A News of the World spokesman said she had been paid a six-figure sum for her allegations, which Beckham has described as "ludicrous".

Speculation about Beckham's five-year marriage first began when the golden boy of English football moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid last summer.

His wife has refused to move to Spain, determined to pursue her own pop career in Britain and keep the couple's two children with her.

Last week, sexually explicit text messages said to have been sent between Beckham and Loos unleashed a storm of speculation when they were published in tabloid newspapers.

Then on Saturday Loos, who lost her job as Beckham's assistant in Spain when he ditched her public relations company, was quoted in the Sun as telling a friend she had had an affair with him.

Loos, the daughter of a Dutch diplomat and an English mother, was photographed with Beckham in a Madrid nightclub last September, prompting rumours of an affair at the time.

Victoria Beckham has insisted that her marriage will not be wrecked by the allegations.

"We have been through a lot worse than this and we're definitely going to get through this," she said after the first wave of allegations was published.