Gazza: £10,000 bar bill is not true

Paul Gascoigne's manager today dismissed claims that the former England star ran up a £10,000 bar bill at a London hotel.

Ian Elliott, who has known Gascoigne since childhood and represented him for a year, said the ITV World Cup pundit was "devastated" by the allegations. "We don't know where this story has come from, and completely deny it," he said. "Paul has not been on a drinking binge and certainly hasn't run up a £10,000 bar bill."

Mr Elliott said reports of a four-hour binge at the Mandarin-Oriental with TV colleagues Andy Townsend and Ally McCoist and Princess Diana's friend James Hewitt were "grossly exaggerated".

He added: "It's true he spent the evening with them - actor Nic Cage also had a drink with them - but it was perfectly civilised."