A reluctant reporter became an inadvertent television star after being called upon to appear in a series about a family of dysfunctional aristocrats.

Paul James, senior reporter at the Mid-Devon Advertiser, had a cameo role in the first episode of BBC reality show Life Is Toff, which follows the fortunes of eccentric members of the landed gentry, the Fulford family.

The first episode of the series saw the foul-mouthed family attempt to host a fundraising car boot sale and guided tour of their manor house, for which they enlisted the services of the Advertiser to promote the event.

Paul agreed to undertake his hesitant shot at stardom after a film crew visited the Tindle-owned weekly’s offices in Newton Abbot in April.

He was required to ask as series of inane questions about the Fulfords’ fundraiser on camera for the programme, which aired on Tuesday.

Said Paul: “I went along with it all, just for the paper.

“The finished product made me cry because my dramatic entrance was made in my old Nissan Micra which I later crashed and wrote off on the Severn Bridge.

“Such is life.”