A barrister seeking a 'Nightingale' court stopped his car to ask directions - and found that the helpful pedestrian he had approached was none other than the Changing Rooms star Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.

Ian Fenny, prosecuting, revealed his celebrity encounter with the former DIY SOS presenter as he opened his case at the Cirencester Magistrates' Court in an indecency trial this morning.

"As I was coming to court and seeking directions this morning I got my directions from Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen," said Mr Fenny to the jury of 11 women and one man. "I suppose that's no more than you expect in a place like Cirencester!"

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and his wife Jackie live in a 16th century manor house just outside Cirencester.

At the start of today's trial of Robert Dowling, 64, of Spencer close, Bridgwater, Somerset, on sixteen charges alleging sexual abuse of three boys in the 1980s, the jury was told by Judge Ian Lawrie QC that they were sitting in a former magistrates court brought out of mothballs to help deal with a backlog of Gloucester Crown Court cases caused by the pandemic.

The judge said the jurors would find some unusual features to their jury service - including that their retiring room is a former police station social club still equipped with billiards table, dartboard and well stocked bar.