Jude Law says he cringed when the press claimed he had proposed to his girlfriend Sienna Miller.

He said he had to explain to his friends and family there wasn't an engagement.

Earlier this month the Sunday Mirror newspaper reported he had asked his Alfie co-star lover to marry him in Venice, Italy, which was followed by denials by Miller reports IMDb.com.

Law said: "There's nothing more uncomfortable than being very happy and very much together and receiving endless phone calls from family and friends saying 'well done' because then you have to deny it."

Law took the opportunity to make a plea to the tabloids to give him, Miller and his family some privacy, and to stop "making up" stories.

He added: "I think it's a terrible shame that the editors aren't recognising their responsibility. It just seems so careless and nasty. People are very generous in the street, but at the same time there is the obvious tabloid attention and scrutiny which is uncomfortable. The constant attention and hounding by photographers, that's an actual sort of physical violation."

Source: Press Release