Michael Barrymore: Acton's Newest Celeb?

Reports of disgraced star purchasing flat in June

It was reported in the Daily Mail today that Michael Barrymore has purchased a flat in Acton.

A local man emailed the site to confirm that this was the case. He said that Barrymore had been spotted "in the ex Ministry of Pensions building in Bromyard Avenue."

According to the Mail, the disgraced star spends Saturdays and occasional weekdays helping out in an Essex garage called Shilton's.

At the height of his career, Barrymore signed a £2million TV deal and had his limousine serviced at the garage where he now does odd jobs, piling barrow loads of rubbish into a skip with a shovel, washing cars and throwing away cardboard boxes.

Bob Shilton, the manager of Shilton's Bodyworks in Epping, Essex says Barrymore's colleagues at the garage joke that he is their new 'Saturday boy'. He said Barrymore had been a friend of his for 25 years.

Barrymore is said to have bought a garden flat in Acton in June for £360,000 using a mortgage secured with a pension scheme.

He was one of the UK's top entertainers until March 2001 when the body of Stuart Lubbock was found in Barrymore's swimming pool.

A police investigation led to no charges and an inquest recorded an open verdict but by 2003 Barrymore had been axed by ITV.

In May 2004 he filed for bankruptcy after receiving a tax bill in the region of £1.4million.

Stuart Lubbock's father Terry has campaigned for someone to be charged, insisting his son was murdered. After a second investigation undertaken by Essex Police it was found that Mr Lubbock had died as a result of a violent assault.

Terry Lubbock said last year: "I believe that Michael Barrymore should not work until he says exactly what happened on the night my son died at his party."

November 9, 2009