A CHAUFFEUR had an affair with his mayor after telling her he was a bodyguard for Diana, Princess of Wales.

But Stan Brookes was not a Thames Valley police officer but a handyman in Kidlington.

Mr Brookes, 35, swept Margaret Layland, Mayor of Worcester, off her feet by telling her he guarded the Princess when he worked for the force between 1990 and 1995.

But a Thames Valley police spokesman said that Mr Brookes, known to them as Stan Ferris, worked for them in Kidlington headquarters as a civilian driver and handyman.

He said: "At no time was he a police officer or involved with Royal or diplomatic protection duties."

A scandal erupted recently when it emerged that Mr Brookes had been having an affair with Mrs Layland, 45. She said: "It now appears that he was leading a Walter Mitty-style life. I feel cheated and duped."

Her mayoralty, which has six weeks to run, and her marriage have survived.

"My husband and son have been so understanding and forgiving," she added, "I cannot believe I was so stupid."

Mr Brookes has been dismissed from his £11,000-a-year post of Worcester's Mayoral Officer and has moved away from his home at Badsey, Hereford and Worcester.

Mrs Layland's husband Colin, who is also a Worcester councillor, said: "It seems he took everyone in."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.