BOLTON teen heart-throb Paul Nicholls has rubbished allegations that he's considering taking up bar work to "make ends meet". Reacting to claims being made in tabloid newspapers, he said the claims were "misleading and potentially damaging".

The story alleged that Paul faced a massive tax bill and had moved back to his dad's house in Smithills. It was also suggested that he was thinking about selling his flat in Hampstead.

Record

But Paul set the record straight today by categorically denying he had moved back to Bolton and had no plans to sell his London flat.

Since leaving Eastenders in August 1997, Paul has worked consistently on a number of high-profile projects including the cop drama City Central and the powerful three-part BBC special, The Passion.

He also spent three months of last year on stage in London, where he took the lead role in Billy Liar.

Paul's publicity team point out that on top of this, he also made the move onto the big screen with The Clandestine Marriage opposite Joan Collins, Nigel Hawthorne, Timothy Spall, Natasha Little and Tom Hollander.

Immediately after filming The Clandestine Marriage, Paul returned to London to take the lead role in another film, the haunting World War one drama, The Trench, opposite Daniel Craig.

And following a holiday, Paul is currently involved in the post production of The Trench and is in discussion regarding a number of major projects for 1999.

In May Paul will be jetting off with the stars to the Cannes Film Festival where both his films will be launched to the world's press.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.