Mentally ill Gazza talked to toy parrots

Paul Gascoigne has told how he befriended two plastic parrots he thought were real during a year of mental instability.

The former England footballer, who was sectioned three times under the Mental Health Act, has spoken of "staring into the abyss". He says he is now recovering after a month in rehab being treated for alcoholism.

At his lowest point, while living in a hotel in Newcastle, he bought two toy parrots which record what is said to them and can repeat the words back.

Gascoigne, 41, told the Sun today: "I looked in the mirror one day and remember one of the parrots saying 'I can see two of you'. I looked around and saw the two parrots having a conversation - or at least I thought they were. I started to think they were real and once ordered three pints - one for me and one each for the parrots.

"I'd get them to talk until the batteries ran out. Then I'd get room service to change the batteries. A few minutes later I looked for them, forgot the porter had taken them to change the batteries and thought they had flown away. The porter brought them back with new batteries and I shoved them under the shower as a punishment for flying away."

On another occasion Gascoigne, whose clubs included Spurs and Newcastle, told his father they were off to Madison Square Garden "to play chess against President Bush and President Clinton".

During his illness, he drank excessively, snorted cocaine and had to be dragged out of his hotel bath by police who feared he may kill himself. He is living at Tony Adams's Sporting Chance clinic and says he has not drunk for about three months.