PR guru Max Clifford - a Merton resident for more than 50 years - is promoting The New Wimbledon Theatre’s centenary celebrations later this month.

Reporter Ben Thompson met him to find out more and discover how his extraodinary career began.

As he walks down the stairs of his Surrey mansion to greet me, Max Clifford has a mobile phone clamped to his ear.

“Don’t worry darling it’ll be fine,” he says before hanging up and apologising. In his words it’s been a manic morning dealing with the whole “Wayne and Colleen situation.”

At 69, the PR guru is still at the centre of every hot story in town - from News of the World phone tapping to the ongoing Wayne Rooney saga. And maybe it’s just my imagination but the woman on the other end of the line has an audible scouse accent.

But before I can launch into the obvious line of questioning, the charm offensive begins. Max shows me a poster for the charity show he’s running at The New Wimbledon Theatre to mark it’s centenary - a gesture to the community where his extraordinary career began, and the reason for this interview.

Sacked as a trainee salesman at Ely’s department store, Clifford started out in 1959 working on the Merton and Morden Times.

“My time as a reporter was wonderful,” he says. “It was a great education because you had to deal with everything from the council and police to school activities. I’d also opened a disco above the Crown Inn in Morden and would constantly plug it, writing stories about massive music stars that had been there the previous week - which of course they hadn’t.

“By the time I left, the music side was starting to take off and was earning me five times my newspaper salary. That’s when I was contacted by EMI and asked to become a press officer where I helped launch a little known band called the Beatles.”

From there Clifford went on to handle the careers of Cliff Richard, Tom Jones and Diana Ross before using his media contacts to start up his PR agency whose clients have included everyone from reality TV stars to former prime ministers and Guantanemo Bay detainees.

But more than 40 years later Max claims his enthusiasm for the job is undiminished.

He says: “During the Jade Goody situation I must have been doing 30 or 40 interviews a day. But it’s something I only do because I enjoy it. A lot of people don’t understand, but my job is as much about protecting as it is promoting my clients.”

As our conversation continues the phone again rings for another interview request, this time on the William Hague hotel room scandal, quickly moving the conversation on to politics and bringing down the likes of David Mellor in the 90s.

“If I find any kind of hypocrisy or double standards, I’ll do my best to expose it,” he says. “The Major government was lecturing us on the importance of decent family values at the time - it was a total deceit.

“I was happy with the role I played in their downfall but I’d do exactly the same thing if it was a Labour Government. It’s not that I think everyone’s private life should be out there but there are times when it can be justified.”

But it may never have happened had the local newspaper’s sport’s editor not asked him to file water polo match reports for 10 pence a week as a 17-year-old.

And even as his career flourished, he stayed within a few of miles of his childhood home in Hardy Road, South Wimbledon. Moving first to Morden in his 20s and then Raynes Park where he lived until relocating to Walton a decade ago.

It’s then of little surprise that the interview soon moves back to promoting the Wimbledon Theatre’s centenary show on September 26.

“I used to cover the theatre as a reporter and my Dad even once had a job there, so I am more than happy to make sure it’s special night. I suppose this is the chance to give something back.”

Max goes on to hint some of his big name clients and X-Factor stars could still be announced alongside confirmed acts including Catherine Tate, Gareth Gates and Alistair McGowan.

As I walk to the door it dawns on me Max is relishing the chance to using Merton’s local paper to promote an event of his once again.

“I’ve even spoken to Simon [Cowell] and he’s told me he’s hoping to come down.”

This time his promise of a massive music star might even be true.

For more information about the event on September 26 see ambassadortickets.com/wimbledon