Nigel Dempster, the Daily Mail columnist, who has exposed the collapse of countless celebrity relationships and revealed thousands of scandals involving public figures, found himself under the spotlight this week when he was divorced for the second time - for unreasonable behaviour'.

Mr Dempster, who moved out of his house on Ham Common over a year ago, was well known in the locality, and supported local charity events including the Richmond and Twickenham Times cat show.

No details of the marriage breakdown of the kind that Mr Demptser uses in his column were released by the High Court family division but it was stated that the pattern had occurred throughout the marriage'.

Mr Dempster refused to comment to national newspapers but readily spoke to a Times reporter, who asked him if he intended to remain in the borough.

I have not lived there for a year', he explained when asked if he would be selling the family home in Ham.

He was divorced from his wife Lady Camilla Godolphin Osborne, the only child of the 11th Duke of Leeds, this week after a marriage that has lasted 25 years.

The 61-year-old journalist, who has lent his name to the Mail column for the last 30 years confirmed that had not lived in the borough since 2001 but said his ex-wife would be staying at the house on Ham Common.

He said: "I left the borough a year ago, I have lived somewhere quite away for over a year. My wife still lives in the house; it's a trust house."

Mr Dempster is renowned for his many and varied scoops for the Daily Mail, revealing the personal problems of the rich, famous and infamous, but has made news himself and featured in rival publications on several occasions.

He escaped a drink driving conviction after a judge overturned the case and accepted that he refused to take a blood test because of a fear of needles. He was also involved in a bitter row when a deputy moved to the Telegraph.

His detached Georgian house on Ham Common overlooking the pond, with a large garden is one of the most desirable properties in the borough.