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Paul Gascoigne has opened up about a hit and run incident he was behind the wheel of before he burst onto the scene at Newcastle United. Gascoigne, 58, recently published a new book looking back at highs andlows of his life.

Many of the tales precede themselves, having already made it into the press or been told by himself and his team-mates. However, the Tottenham Hotspur andEngland legend bared all about a bizarre story which saw him hit a man with his car while he and a friend were driving some girls home.

He and close pal Jimmy Gardiner, who he often got into mischief with, were hauled in front of the police and the courts when Gascoigne drove his car into another man crossing the road, before driving off in a panic.

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This happened when he was making inroads into the first team at Newcastle and various Magpies legends were talking about him as St James' Park's next big star. Speaking in his book, which has been serialised by the Daily Mail, Gascoigne said: "I soon became the hottest property in football with every club in the country wanting me, despite my daft antics off the pitch.

"My partner in crime was often my best mate Jimmy Gardiner, or Jimmy Five Bellies as I nicknamed him because he was the same height as me but about 30 stone heavier.

"The first time I got into trouble with the police was when Jimmy persuaded me to give some girls a lift home in my Mini, even though I still hadn’t got my licence.

"I ended up knocking over this guy as he crossed the road in front of me. I stopped the car, rushed over and I could see he was moving – I hadn’t killed him, at least. But then I just panicked and drove off.

"I mustn’t have been thinking straight and was also terrified of getting into trouble with Newcastle United. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I got a snooker cue and I smashed the windows of my car in, thinking I would pretend someone else had been driving it.

"But that didn’t wash with the police when they tracked me down. Me and Jimmy had to go to court over that. We were fined and given points on our licences, even though I didn’t have one yet."

The trouble was not over for Gascoigne. Once the law had dealt with him and inflicted their slap on the wrist, the powers that be at Newcastle had their own lesson they wanted to admonish.

Fortunately, there was one factor which may have prevented the Magpies from getting Gascoigne and his antics out of their hair. He added: "The worst thing was I got a dressing down from Gordon McKeag, the Newcastle United chairman. 'If anything like this happens again, you’re out,’ he told me.

"But it would have been very difficult for them to let me go, especially with the likes of club legend Jackie Milburn raving about me on TV. ‘I think it’s about 35 years since I’ve seen a kid as good as what this lad is, and I just can’t believe the skills of him,’ he said.

"'He’s got everything, everything. He sticks out a mile. There’s no holding him, he is the best in the world.’ I couldn’t get over it when I heard that. I just went, ‘Wow.’ I couldn’t believe someone as special as Jackie thought so highly of me.”

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