A MIDDLESBROUGH nightclub owner who once wined and dined Charlie Kray has signalled his intention to stand as a candidate to become the town's first elected mayor.

However, Barry Faulkner, 53, said yesterday: "I'm no gangster," when asked about his links to the London crime family.

Mr Faulkner, who owns the Empire nightclub and the Box Office bar, in Corporation Road, said: "I decided to stand because I know I could do a lot better than the other people who have put up for it.

"It may go against me being a nightclub owner, but anyone who knows me knows that I am not a gangster. I am down to earth. I can't stand there and talk politics all day, but it's about common sense."

The divorced father-of-four, who has lived in Middlesbrough all his life and has owned nightclubs for the past 22 years, was hit by scandal in 1990 when he took Charlie Kray - elder brother of the Kray twins - out for a night on the town and paid the bill.

However, Mr Faulkner said he has nothing to hide about his past.

"All it was, was a friend of mine who I'd met coming up for a weekend. He came up and brought with him his friend, who was Charlie Kray. I never met him before and never saw him again. He was an absolute gentleman."

After the incident, Mr Faulkner was refused a public entertainment licence by Middlesbrough Council and has never held one in his own name since.

His mayoral ambitions as an independent candidate were, he said, fuelled by a disillusionment with the other contenders, including former Middlesbrough CID boss Ray Mallon.

Of Mallon he will only say: "Our paths have crossed."

As for the rest of the candidates, he said: "There is no decent alternative. They are not like Guiliani in New York, are they?"

His campaign to become mayor on May 2 will focus on making the town centre safer and improving the nightlife for clubbers.

"I would like to see the town cleaned up a bit and make it more like a city," he said.

"Why should Middlesbrough nightclubs have to close at 2am when there are places up the road that open until 4am.

"I'm not a politician, but I don't think this election is about politics. People know me and know I will do my best for the town.