THE alleged bomb hoaxer accused of a £1million blackmail plot against Tesco supermarkets is a former VAT officer and part-time college tutor.

Philip McHugh, 51, of Milton Avenue, Clitheroe, was arrested by police following the closure of 14 stores across the country, including the branch in Clitheroe.

There was also an alleged threat to the Tesco in Centenary Way, Burnley.

Now the Lancashire Telegraph can revealed that McHugh is a former Blackburn VAT officer and part-time photography teacher at Nelson and Colne College.

And in 1995, whilst living in Burnley Road, Accrington, he won £3,000 damages following a legal dispute with the News of the World over false allegations that he was interested in "spanking."

Two investigative reporters posed as photographic models and ran an article accusing him of exploiting women.

He spoke of his two-year nightmare after the article had been published.

But he said the money would not compensate him for losing his career, his home and his health following the article.

And McHugh said he had considered committing suicide several times as a result.

He said: "It was all a very strange experience. At times I was in such a state that I would fall to my knees on the floor and not be able to get up for over an hour.

"I hadn't done anything wrong but the effects on me of all this have been appalling."

Mr McHugh, then 40, said he had no option but to quit his job as an officer in the VAT department in Blackburn.

"I enjoyed my job and had an exemplary record. But I felt I was not given the proper support by management there after the article was published, and had to leave."

McHugh, who used to teach photography part time at Nelson and Colne college, got another job as a insurance collector for the Co-op, but within 18 days he was dismissed.

"I am sure it is to do with what has happened to me," he said.

Although he was awarded £3,000 damages by the jury at court, he said he could no longer afford to live in his home and had put it up for sale.

Since leaving the Co-op he said he had managed to earn some money as a VAT consultant.

McHugh also lived in Water Street, Accrington, where neighbours remember a man who kept himself to himself before moving to Clitheroe.

Ann Plachta said: "I knew Philip McHugh when he lived with his mum and brothers. I worked with his mother in Padiham and he used to go to Bow Street social club but they all kept themselves to themselves.

"His brothers moved south and their mother moved down there a few years after. I don't know what happened to Philip."

Another neighbour who lived a few doors down from the McHughs also remembered them as quiet people. She said." I didn't really see them apart from to say hello. I wouldn't say I knew Philip well, but I got on well enough when I saw him."

A spokesman for HM Customs and Excise, who oversee VAT services, said they would not comment on something concerning a former member of staff.

But he added: "We are at liberty to assist the police in their enquiries during any investigation."

Nelson and Colne College declined to comment about McHugh's time there.

McHugh has lived at the Clitheroe address for the past three-and-a-half years with his wife and teenage son and daughter.

He appeared at Stevenage Magistrates' Court in Hertfordshire on Thursday accused of two specimen charges of blackmail and two of making bomb hoaxes.

Currently unemployed, McHugh worked as a charity collector for the Shelter charity shop in Moor Lane, Clitheroe, two years ago, and not as manager, as stated in yesterday's paper.