Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott swept into North Yorkshire to enjoy a rural break...and set a village abuzz with talk of not so much who was among them, but how he got about.

Farndale resident Nigel Burnham contacted the Evening Press to report how Mr Prescott and his wife Pauline spent the weekend with another couple in a holiday cottage there.

Mr Burnham, who photographed Mr Prescott's Jaguar car outside the cottage, said the talk was that Mr Prescott had stayed true to his reported preference for travelling by car rather than walking.

It was rumoured that despite the local hostelry, the Feversham Arms, being only 300 yards from his cottage, he twice drove the Jag there for bar meals, and once ventured to Kirkbymoorside for a meal at the George & Dragon.

But Derek Plews, spokesman for Mr Prescott, hotly denied the rumours.

"This bit about him driving 300 yards to the pub is absolute rubbish. It's true that he was there at Farndale for the weekend, and he spent the time either walking on the Moors or travelling around the local areas in the afternoons. "He did stop at the local pub on both evenings, but he stopped there on his way back to the cottage after being out in the car for the afternoon."

Heather Armstrong, of the George & Dragon, said Mr Prescott's party had lunch there on Saturday.

"They were fine - not a problem at all," he said.

Another recent celebrity diner at the hotel restaurant was actor Dominic Brunt, who plays portly Paddy Kirk in Emmerdale.

Heather added that the bill for Mr Prescott's group showed that he, his wife and friends all started with soup, followed by one liver and onions; a rabbit casserole; a lasagne; and gammon.

Fellow hotel worker, Margaret Hurst, was not even aware the Deputy Premier had visited.

"I don't even know what John Prescott looks like," she admitted.

Ryedale District Council's only Labour member, Coun Gary Hobbs, who represents Kirkbymoorside, expressed surprise that anyone would fail to recognise Mr Prescott. "After Tony Blair and William Hague, he's just about the most recognised politician about," he said.

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