Who are the stingiest stars?

Until now, the amount that celebrities give as tips in restaurants has been between them, the waiter and their conscience.

But a succession of websites devoted to exposing stars' stinginess is changing all that.

Serving staff pull no punches in their attacks on some of the world's richest and most powerful clients.

George W Bush, before he became President, gets a mention for being mean by giving just a £5 tip on a £158 bill in a restaurant at Midland, near his Texas ranch.

And there are at least three furious rants from Chicago against his defeated rival Democrat John Kerry and his wife Teresa, heiress to the Heinz millions.

Even Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, is castigated for giving a £1.10 tip on a £10 bill in San Francisco.

U.S. restaurant staff are traditionally poorly paid and make up their wages with tips. Even 15 per cent is considered mean, while some big city restaurants expect 20 or 25 per cent.

While there is no proof that the staff 's allegations are true, there is no doubting their anger. From New Orleans, a waitress reports that actor Sean Penn gave no tip at all on a £ 250 restaurant bill.

Britney Spears is said to have done the same on a £54 bill.

At the Karma Nightclub in Atlanta, Georgia, former Baywatch star Carmen Electra is accused of leaving one cent (1/2p) on a £20 drinks bill.

A cocktail waitress reports: 'She ordered a Sex on the Beach (what a dumb drink) and sent it back three times saying it wasn't good. She never talked directly to me.

'Her bodyguard told me to make sure that nobody else's drinks in her "entourage" were put on her tab because she's not rich.' At the Penang restaurant in New York, supermodel Tyra Banks apparently left a £1.60 tip, about 5 per cent, on a £34 bill.

The waitress reports: 'Tyra was wearing a white tank top. At the end of the meal, she dripped a bit of curry sauce on her shirt and screamed at me for several minutes about how I was "an incompetent waiter" and "it's all your fault".'