Heather Mills‘ legal team reportedly isn’t as close to reaching a settlement over her divorce from Paul McCartney as previous reports have suggested and a source close to Heather has revealed the proceedings are driving Heather deep into debt - which may be what Paul’s legal team want.

A friend of Heather’s told the Daily Mail recently that Heather’s legal bill is approaching £750,000 despite opting to represent herself in court sometimes to save money.

The friend added that the bill has impacted Heather’s expectations for the final settlement: “Initially Heather would have probably settled for £10 million, but when negotiations came to a complete deadlock, and Mischon De Reya got involved the settlement was never going to be for that sum - simply because their fees were so large.

“Since then, the least they would have settled for is about £25 million.”

A second friend told the newspaper that “both sides seem to be rather entrenched” for a decision to be reached within the next few days: “Heather told me only two weeks ago that she anticipated that it would all be settled around this time next year.”

“Her thinking is that he has two years to get this all done, and that he wants her to suffer as much as possible.”

“She is on an overdraft now, and she had to sell her cottage because of legal fees. She is in a pretty bad place and she feels that he is trying to weaken and further weaken her position so that she settles for a quick lower price.”