Doherty not being evicted

10:04am Thursday 8th May 2008

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REPORTS THAT Pete Doherty had been asked to leave his home near Marlborough have been finally scotched by landlord the Earl of Cardigan.

The wild boy of rock -- probably better know for his drug taking than his music lives in a house in Durley in Savernake Forest, rented from the Savernake estate run by Lord Cardigan.

Doherty moved to the house at Durley earlier this year after staying in Marlborough for a couple of months in a cottage owned by the broadcasting magnate Ralph Bernard.

The house at Durley was previously rented from the Savernake estate by super model Jodie Kidd.

On Tuesday Doherty was freed from jail after serving 21 days of a 14 week sentence imposed for drug related offences.

It was reported that because of the state of his home he would have to leave and find somewhere else to live.

That was partly but not entirely true Lord Cardigan told the Gazette today.

Lord Cardigan is currently out of the country but he e-mailed the Gazette to say: "I would just make it clear that the Savernake Estate is not moving to evict Mr Doherty.

"Before he went to prison the property leased to him was in something of a mess, but we hold a substantial deposit of his, left with us for that very reason.

"During his imprisonment his manager begged us to allow him to stay on, and I said I would allow him to do that if the property was hugely tidied up in his absence, and serious steps were taken to ensure it stayed that way.

"His manager gave us that assurance, and back in Wiltshire my foreman assures me that he has again visited the property, and satisfied himself that the clean-up was very comprehensive."

Lord Cardigan said: "That being so, we have no current intention of terminating his tenancy.

"However, there is a clause in the lease forbidding criminal activity, so I very much hope he has learned his lesson in Wormwood Scrubs, and has given up drugs for good."