Walt Disney came under renewed attack last night from two former board members, Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, who accused the firm of lying about the search for a replacement chief executive.

The dissidents are angry at the selection of a Disney insider, Robert Iger, who was named in March as the replacement for the long-serving chief executive Michael Eisner.

In a lawsuit filed yesterday in Delaware, they contend that Disney failed to stand by promises to engage in a bona fide selection process. Instead, they said that Disney used "company resources to promote Iger's candidacy and did not, in good faith, seriously consider any other candidate."

The two men said they would have put forward an alternate slate of directors at the company's recent annual meeting had they believed the selection process was not being carried out in good faith. The suit claims that Disney misled them about the search to keep them quiet.

Mr Disney, a relative of the co-founder Roy Disney, and Mr Gold have become a thorn in the company's side. Last year they led a shareholder revolt that ended in an unprecedented 45% of shareholders withholding votes for Mr Eisner's re-election.

The lawsuit argues that only one outside candidate was discussed in the search for a replacement chief executive and that Mr Eisner, a long-time champion of Mr Iger, was present at interviews.

Disney had no immediate comment.