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PAUL FACES ROUGH HEATHER

Apart from the nine days he spent in a Japanese jail on drug charges, Sir Paul McCartney was never apart from his first wife Linda. So it is perhaps no wonder that tongues have started wagging after it emerged that...

the former Beatle and his second wife Heather have spent five nights away from each other.

The ex-model has been at their seafront home in Hove all week while her 63-yearold husband has been shuttling between their London townhouse in St John's Wood and their farm in Peasmarsh, East Sussex.

The couple, who have a two-year-old daughter, Beatrice, were quick to deny any problems after a Sunday newspaper said they were on the verge of splitting. They blamed their separation on the paparazzi who have been trying to get a picture of Heather in a wheelchair following a serious operation on her leg.

She said: 'We have only just got back together from Los Angeles, where Paul was recording and I had my operation. We haven't been apart until these last couple of days when I have had to hide.

'I have had a revision amputation and am keeping my head down.

'Of course we are together — it is hilarious. I can't wait to sue because I will make a fortune for my charity.'

Heather, 37, lost part of her leg below the knee when she was hit by a police motorbike 13 years ago in Kensington, West London.

She had the 'revision amputation', meaning that she had more of her stump removed, in the US three weeks ago.

She returned to Britain in a wheelchair but, after follow-up treatment at a hospital near her Hove home and after having a new artificial leg fitted, she recently started walking again with the aid of crutches.

Her publicist said yesterday that Sir Paul had been 'very supportive' and added: 'There is nothing sinister in them being apart for a few days. She has had a major operation and decided to stay in Hove because it was nearest to her hospital.

'Paul has been busy and that is why they have not been together for this short period.'

The couple were believed to be together last night but sources close to Sir Paul, who recently completed a tour, refused to say exactly what he had been doing that would keep him away from his wife at this vulnerable time. 'He runs a big publishing company in London and he has been busy working,' said one. 'He has also been keen to keep the photographers away from his wife. It would not surprise me if his trip to Peasmarsh was to give the photographers the wrong idea about where she was.'

The couple met at a charity awards ceremony in 1999 and married in June 2002 despite the disapproval of Sir Paul's children with Linda. They have had several well-publicised rows — including an incident just before they wed when Miss Mills threw her engagement ring out of a hotel window.

However, their marriage was cemented by the birth of their daughter, while they have embarked on a number of high-profile ventures together to improve animal rights and stop seal cubs being killed.