Stop harassing Gascoigne, rehab clinic tells media

THE rehabilitation clinic treating Paul Gascoigne has urged the press to stop "harassing" the troubled former footballer - claiming that media attention is adding to his "current anxieties".

The Providence Projects, which is treating the star, below, for alcoholism and depression, said photographers and reporters have been outside its south coast clinic every day since he entered rehab.

Clinic officials claimed the unwelcome interference was damaging Gascoigne's ongoing rehabilitation and "could have a serious negative effect on his whole future".

The plea came after the former Rangers and England star missed his sentencing for drink-driving, after voluntarily checking himself into the rehab clinic.

Paul Spanjar, treatment director from The Providence Projects, said: "This is as much of a plea as it is a statement. This damaging interference in Paul's ongoing rehabilitation could have a serious negative effect on Paul's whole future."

Gascoigne, 43, failed to attend a sentencing hearing at Newcastle Magistrates' Court on 11 November after admitting driving while four times the limit.