Sunday Mirror Investigation: A 5-minute interview with a chauffeur

GETTING the job was easy...and getting the addresses of some of Britain's biggest stars was even easier.

All it took was a five-minute interview with no security checks and within a few hours I knew where the likes of Victoria Beckham and Robbie Williams lived.

I even knew the home address of Home Secretary David Blunkett.

I was working in the control room of London-based Wyndham Cars which is paid around pounds 30,000 a year by the BBC to ferry their top stars around.

The firm - owned by Central Despatch Services (CDS) - knows next to nothing about the people it employs.

During my time there I discovered that some staff actually made a hobby of collecting stars' addresses and phone numbers.

The offices are a stalker's paradise. Already Zoe Ball has been a victim of a former courier employed by CDS.

She was left in fear of her life after Colin Scholey bombarded her with calls and messages.

BBC chiefs had to tighten security around the star after he trailed her and constantly turned up at studios where she was working.

She eventually took out an injunction against him after he hand- delivered a parcel to her office. He was sacked from his job.

Crimewatch presenter Jill Dando used the Wyndham Cars regularly before she was murdered on her London doorstep by twisted stalker Barry George three years ago.

At the time, the BBC pledged to step up security around its celebrities.

But I went through NO security checks to get my job. For all they knew I could have been a crazed celebrity stalker.

Despite this, during the 15 night shifts I worked for the firm over a four-month period, I easily gained access to the home addresses and personal numbers of more than 20 stars. They included Esther Rantzen, Jack Dee, Jonathan Ross, Amanda Holden and Johnny Vaughan.

The company also works for Celador - makers of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? - and National Lottery firm Camelot.

Like many firms, Wyndham have a constant turnover of staff - and new faces were appearing every week. This made me fear that it would only be a matter of time before a stalker appeared on the payroll.

When I first contacted Wyndham Cars I was invited for an interview the same day.

During a five-minute chat with a supervisor I told her I had worked for other taxi companies and in insurance.

I was not asked for details of the jobs, references or my P45.

And, incredibly, I did not even have to give my address.

The next day, Wyndham Cars called me and asked me to start work that night.

When I reported for duty I was taken into a control room with booths separated by glass panels.

Large posters and photographs of stars lined the walls. On one picture of Michael Jackson, the singer had scribbled "with thanks".

I was ushered into one of the telephonists' booths, a small glass cubicle containing a head-set, phone and computer. I worked alongside two other night telephonists, a co-ordinator and a controller.

During the day, 20 call-handlers work at the company, which also provides a motorbike courier service.

As calls came in from stars and BBC workers booking cars for celebrities, I was shown how to fill in a job sheet on the computer.

I had to take details of a pick-up point, the number of passengers and where the car was going...which was often to the star's home address.

I also had to ask for a contact number, which was often the celebrity's personal mobile number.

All details went into a central server which all of the workers had access to.

On my very first shift I spoke to Amanda Holden, star of new BBC drama Cutting It.

The 31-year-old actress - married to comic Les Dennis - was calling from Notting Hill, London, where she had been to the cinema with a friend.

She complained that a car she ordered had not arrived and said she was concerned because she was in a public place at 11pm.

I calmed her down and assured her another car would be with her in 10 minutes. During the call Amanda gave me her mobile number and London address.

Like the other celebrities using Wyndham Cars, she was totally unaware my background had not been checked.

And she did not know her details would go on to a central server which could be accessed by other staff.

On the same eight-hour shift I also spoke to singer Robbie Williams.

When I entered his account number into the system his home address appeared on the screen.

And when Home Secretary David Blunkett's office also called to book a car to deliver a parcel to his Sheffield home, his address also came on to the screen.

I quickly realised how easily I could get numbers and addresses of high-profile stars from my computer.

By clicking on to a job sheet I could pull up a booking time, address and often a phone number.

This could have enabled me to track celebrities who had made advanced bookings.

Angela Rippon booked a car to take her from her London home to BBC Television Centre where she was to appear on Watchdog. The 57-year- old former newsreader - mugged in London twice in 18 months - was to talk about mugging on the show.

Any of the company's staff could have accessed her details. Other regular users of the chauffeur service were Paul Merton, Jill Dando's former colleague Nick Ross, Ruby Wax and Jonathan Ross.

Most used cars to take them between their homes and the BBC centre in White City, West London.

BUT as they are also free to call Wyndham Cars for personal use, the system gives staff the chance to track the stars' movements.

As a demonstration of this I was able to find out what presenters Esther Rantzen and Dale Winton were planning the day after one of my shifts.

Esther had booked a car from her North London home at 8.30am to take her to a West End hairdresser. And Dale had ordered a car to collect him from Heathrow Airport after he had arrived back in Britain on a flight from Orlando.

Many stars - ignorant of the blatant security lapses of the firm - had sent mementoes and thanks to the company.

Victoria Beckham even gave a driver a box of chocolate biscuits to share out back at base.

The only people I knew to have made a complaint were disgraced Tory MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine. The couple had booked a car to pick them up from a studio at Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, after a humiliating appearance on the celebrity version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

They were very emotional and desperate to get away after the huge embarrassment of winning only pounds 1,000 for charity on the show.

But their car was late - and while I was there, Neil rang Wyndham Cars, screaming down the phone to find out where their car had got to.

In recent years a string of celebrities, including Madonna, Liz Hurley and Trude Mostue have been plagued by stalkers.

Wyndham Cars should urgently change their recruitment policy - and the BBC should review their security.

One solution would be for the celebrities to only give the postcode of their drop-off point - and only tell the driver when he picks them up. Then all addresses would not have to go on the system.

Last night Central Despatch Services general manager Andy Moss said: "Wyndham Cars has already conducted an internal investigation to determine whether any standard security procedures have been compromised.

"A review of our procedures is being made."

A BBC spokeswoman said: "We are looking into this matter. It is something we take very seriously. We are looking into our contract arrangements with Wyndhams."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We would advise any firms dealing with information such as this to take steps to ensure it is used only as intended and to protect it from improper use. This is for the sake of their clients and their own future business."

- Additional reporting by MIKE HAMILTON and TAYLA GOODMAN

EIGHT OF THE CELEBS WHOSE DETAILS WERE REVEALED

Posh Spice Robbie Williams Johnny Vaughan Jonathan Ross Nick Ross Ruby Wax Esther Rantzen Jack Dee

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