CELEBRITY SPOTTING IN LONDON

The new Dean Street Townhouse is high glamour and low prices if you're lucky enough to book one of the 'Tiny' rooms at £95 per night. Quentin Tarantino was apparently in the restaurant the week before, but we did manage to rub shoulder's with Tracy Emin's pencil drawing as we tucked into a full English Breakfast at £11 per head. Coffee and water were complimentary as was the loud business meeting that we were within earshot for our entire breakfast. The hotel rooms are extremely cosy with what feels like fine Eqyptian cotton sheets on the bed, and a wide array of snacks and peanuts in the mini bar but don't make our mistake and scoff the nuts thinking they're free, as they're not! £17 is a lot to spend on the munchies. The bathroom is full of fragrant smelling Cowshed products which are free to use whilst in the room but you will be charged if you attempt to stuff them into your toiletry bag.

Dean Street Townhouse is perfectly placed if you're a fanatical celebrity spotter like me. Soho has always reaped great rewards for the ardent star stalker, I've seen Ricky Gervais twice, Jarvis Cocker, sat behind Ricky Hatton at Patisserie Valerie (just round the corner on Old Compton Street) whilst Bill Nighy and Michelle Dewsberry walked by, not together I hasten to add. I've sat inside Patisserie Valerie as David Bailey and his wife Catherine strolled up through the cafe, Howard Jacobson has brushed past and last time I was there the former Heartbeat actor Jason Durr was there talking loudly in a mid Atlantic drawl to his equally loud American friend. Soho is of course the home to a lot of the post production houses where everyone does their voice overs or catches up with their agents. I've seen many stars there,

Mike Leigh, Lenny Henry, and of course my good friend Russell T. Davies. He'd just jetted in from LA for a Doctor Who meeting and then was off again to his new favourite haunt, Venice Beach. You can hang outside the Groucho Club on Dean Street or the Ivy on West Street for a potential spotting but my tip is keep your eyes peeled at all times. Frank Finlay hopping on the tube and Josie Lawrence walking quickly down Oxford Street, they are everywhere.

The Jack the Ripper tour is a great atmospheric way to walk the murky footsteps of the Ripper who completed the five murders in short space of time, mainly over the summer months so apparently no fog, no tall hats or cloaks. The tour was £7 each, and a lot of filming takes place round Brick Lane, as our guide informed us that she had seen Gywneth Paltrow in costume not far from Brick Lane.

Scotts restaurant, Mount Street, Mayfair is where Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi are often papped dining outside. It's a posh fish restaurant, that we tried for lunch but were disappointed to see that it was mainly businessmen popping in for fish & chips, and Nigella was nowhere to be seen. Photographer Terry O'Neill did pop in though so all was not lost.