Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr has taken a swipe at the Liverpool Echo for reporting a ‘joke” he made about his home city.

In an interview with Jonathan Ross three years ago, the legendary drummer was asked what he missed about Liverpool. He replied: “Nothing.”

The Echo reported his remarks at the time, leading to 1,500 readers complaining about his comments on the paper’s message boards.

However Ringo now claims he was joking and has criticised the Echo for having covered the episode.

Asked the same question again by the Echo at the start of his All Starr European tour, he replied: “There’s lots I miss, of course. I did that joke with Jonathan Ross and I’m still paying for it, it seems.”

“Liverpool is close to my heart, there are people in Liverpool I love – my family, my friends. They thought it was funny. But it seems that you at the Echo didn’t.”

In his interview, Ringo claimed there were “three people from the Wirral” who complained about his original comments.

In fact the critics included the leader of the city council and fellow Liverpool musicians as well as Echo readers.

Echo editor Alastair Machray commented: “At the Echo and in Liverpool, Ringo is a legend and always will be.

“But this is definitely a case of don’t shoot the messenger. Ringo said what he said. As a diplomat he makes a very good drummer.”