BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair slept rough on a park bench when he first arrived in London as a teenager, his Downing Street office said today.

The previously unknown episode in the life of the prime minister was confirmed by his spokesman in response to a newspaper story which said the young and impoverished Blair was forced to sleep outside when he arrived in the capital to chase his dream of becoming a rock star. "After he left school the prime minister came down to London. He spent a night on a park bench before he sorted out somewhere to stay," the Downing Street spokesman said. The episode was revealed by Blair's wife Cherie to guests at a Downing Street reception for homeless charity Centrepoint this week, according to the Sunday Mirror. One guest told the tabloid that Cherie was describing the work of the charity when she appeared to break away from her prepared text to tell them about her husband's experience when he came to London before going on to study at Britain's prestigious Oxford University. "She said the charity was very close to Tony's heart because he was forced to sleep rough on a park bench when he first came to London," the guest said. "We just couldn't believe what we were hearing. Can you imagine that the prime minister used to sleep rough on a bench? "I don't think anyone in that room at Downing Street could." Blair's encounter with the park bench took place near London's Euston rail station in 1971 during his gap-year between school and university, the Sunday Mirror said. Blair, now 50, went on to study labour law at Oxford, where he sported long hair and baggy Indian shirts and played in his own rock band called The Ugly Rumours, before launching into a career as a courtroom lawyer. He was 30 when he first won election to the House of Commons, and quickly moved up the Labour Party's ranks, becoming its leader in 1994. He brought Labour to power in a landslide general election victory in 1997, when he was 43 years old. Agence France-Presse

Defence staff in porn probe

FOURTEEN Defence Department staff were being investigated for allegedly transmitting pornographic material on computers, a Defence spokesman said today. The spokesman said the allegations involved breaches of the Australian Public Service code of conduct covering information technology. The investigation centres on the receiving and circulating of emails containing pornography. "Because these cases are currently being investigated, we obviously cannot say too much," the spokesman said.

New role for supermodel

SUPERMODEL Kristy Hinze has spent 10 years in front of the mirror perfecting her modeling pout, but now the 24-year-old is back on home soil pursuing a new career. She will star in a film with a role that was written especially for her. The leggy Australian traded her rural life in Queensland for the chaotic international modeling circuit at just 14. She still enjoys modeling but is now looking for a new challenge. "I don't have to study myself so closely in the mirror any more because I already know what to expect - I know the poses," Hinze said. "I'm excited and a little nervous. This is where I probably will be heading in the next few years." Hinze is starring alongside comedian Jimeoin in a film which he wrote. She said she still laughs out loud at the script, despite having read it countless times a day. Doing a surprisingly accurate imitation of Jimeoin's thick Irish accent, Hinze mimics the moment when the comedian, a good friend with whom she spent New Year's Eve, called her out of the blue. "I was in Australia shooting an advertising campaign for Berlei when he called and said: 'I have a film and there's a part in it for you'." Hinze flew to Melbourne to read for the role. She nailed it. Rehearsing with the rest of the crew in Melbourne, the blonde beauty now spends 12 hours a day running through her lines with an acting coach. The athletic blonde will be in Australia for the next few months perfecting her character, but is not ready yet to give up the bright lights of modeling. Hinze, the spokeswoman for Berlei lingerie, will also be hosting a fashion segment during the upcoming L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, where she will be dropped from the ceiling, Moulin Rouge-style.  SundayTelegrahNews.