WARDLE'S SHOCK HARRODS SPLIT

Mr Wardle, 63, parted company with Mohammed Al Fayed's organisation last week just five months after giving up his seat at Westminster.

A spokesman for the Harrods group this week refused to say whether Mr Wardle had left of his own accord or been sacked but denied national press reports that his departure was due to an "increasingly poisoned atmosphere" in the Fayed camp.

He added: "Following an initial appointment as non executive director of Harrods on March 1, 2001, Mr Wardle became a full board member on June 11, 2001, with responsibility for public affairs. Charles Wardle's employment has been terminated with effect from October 24, 2001."

He would not say whether the split was amicable and Mr Wardle himself was unavailable for comment this week.

Mr Wardle came under fire from national press and fellow Tory MPs when he accepted the job with Harrods in April 2000 despite refusing Mohammad Al Fayed's application for a British passport when he was a junior Home Office minister in 1993.

Mr Fayed's `sleaze' and `cash-for-questions' allegations were blamed for the downfall of John Major's government and fellow MP Gerald Howarth called Mr Wardle's decision to accept the Harrods job `extraordinary.'

Mr Wardle initially worked two days a week for Harrods, mainly dealing with its overseas oil, gas, mining and satellite technology interests. He signed a three-year contract to become a full-time director when he stood down from the safe Bexhill and Battle seat after 18 years of office at June's General Election.