Alex: our marriage is over

George Best's wife announced today that the couple had split up.

Alex Best, 31, said this afternoon that the couple had formally separated. She would continue to support her husband but they would now be living apart.

In a statement, the former model, who has stood by 57-year-old Best throughout his battle with alcoholism and a life-saving liver transplant, spoke of her "deep sadness" at the move.

"I have tried to be there for him during his recent well-catalogued problems but the situation is now that it is not right for us to be together at this time," she said. "I have always supported George and always will, but for the present we will be living separate lives."

Best's eight-year marriage was hit by reports last month that he had an affair with 25-year-old student Paula Shapland after meeting her in his local pub in Walton on the Hill.

After his operation the former Manchester United star was involved in a drink-fuelled brawl in the Surrey pub but his wife forgave him and they went on holiday together. He appeared to burn his bridges, however, when he said in an interview he no longer loved Alex, claiming all he wanted was the couple's two dogs.

When news of Best's marriage problems broke in a Sunday newspaper, the pair were involved in an angry confrontation that ended in Alex storming out and returning to Britain from Malta.

Best has blamed Alex for the breakdown in relations between them, saying she refused to accept his claim that he had been "set up" by Miss Shapland. After Best's drinking relapse earlier this year, his surgeon pronounced that his new liver was unscathed.