Hurley and Grant fend off media

Liz Hurley manages a smile for the cameras

Celebrity couple Liz Hurley and Hugh Grant have remained tight-lipped as reporters besiege their London home following their split.

Their production company Simian Films announced their temporary separation after 13 years on Tuesday night.

Outside the home they still share in Chelsea, Hurley, 34, declined to comment as she left on Wednesday afternoon.

Looking relaxed, she only said that she was "fine, thank you" before she got into a vehicle and drove away.

Quick getaway: Hugh Grant faces the press

She arrived at the house - which is surrounded by reporters - on Tuesday night with a mystery man.

Later, Grant, 39, emerged looking grim-faced and, confronted with a scrum of photographers and reporters, commented: "This is like Notting Hill."

In the film, he plays a bookshop owner who finds himself surrounded by reporters after he starts a relationship with a Hollywood star.

He was driven off in a black cab.

Hurley and Grant were due to attend a £1,000-a-head gala dinner in honour of Dame Elizabeth Taylor on Wednesday evening, but opted to stay away instead.

A spokeswoman for the pair's production company Simian Films said the couple had decided to separate for a while.

Liz arrives at her home on Tuesday night with a mystery companion

She called their split "a temporary thing".

The spokeswoman added: "It is a mutual and amicable decision. They are to continue to run Simian Films together and they would like to stress that there are no third parties involved."

Grant is currently filming Bridget Jones' Diary in London, while actress and model Hurley is due in New York later this month to begin shooting Double Whammy with comedian Denis Leary.

The two have become one of the most photographed couples in the world.

They were first thrust into the media spotlight when Hurley wore a Versace dress held together by safety pins to the premiere of Four Weddings And A Funeral.

Since then she has often upstaged Grant when they have appeared in public together.