Getting to the Deputy PM was a piece of cake

THE prospect of cake and a cuppa was enough for John Prescott to take time out of his heavy schedule. The Deputy Prime Minister was walking along Mill Street with his entourage of security personnel when Simon Chapman, who jointly runs A Piece of Cake, ran out of his shop to offer caramel slices and cups of tea.

The Labour MP gladly accepted but found himself having to pay.

'I couldn't believe it,' said Mr Chapman's partner, Julie Eastwood.

'Simon just said ?the cakes are on the house but I'll have to charge you for the brews?.

'This is the Deputy PM and he's having to pay for his tea.

'They do say Yorkshiremen have deep pockets and short arms.'

Mr Chapman said he showed true northern business savvy on Friday.

'Because we've got this new business, I've got a tendency to stop anybody who looks in the window.

'If they walk away, I chase after them. John Prescott was no exception.

'One of our customers spotted him so I grabbed some cakes - a caramel slice, in fact - and hotfooted it down the road with them.

'Initially, he looked up and looked away and his protection chaps moved a bit closer to him. He probably thought it was somebody coming to egg him again.'

Realising Mr Chapman was not a threat, Mr Prescott and his security officials relaxed.

'I went up to him, introduced myself and said ?I'm a Yorkshireman . . . you can't walk past my shop without coming in?.'

Mr Prescott and his eight officials were served cherry Bakewell tarts as well as fig and almond cakes.

'He was superb, really laid-back,' said Mr Chapman. 'He enjoyed his cakes and polished them off. He lived up to his reputation - he's definitely got a Yorkshire appetite.'

Mr Prescott stayed in the shop for about 45 minutes while the protection officers looked at their watches and made the necessary telephone calls.

'What was nice was that it was his decision to come in,' said Mr Chapman. 'I just put it to him and he accepted.'

For Ms Eastwood, this was by no means her first VIP encounter. While working in hotels she has catered for Bill Clinton, former Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev, and former mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani.

'We're used to the big names,' she said. 'I just take it in my stride. John Prescott was really down-to-earth.'

Mr Chapman said it all came down to Mr Prescott recognising a Yorkshire voice.

'You know what they say - we have got to stick together.'

* Although the Deputy Prime Minister is widely thought to be a native Yorkshireman, John Leslie Prescott was born in Prestatyn, North Wales, on 31 May 1938 - but he has been the MP for Hull East since 1970.