......and.................

AND WHY OH WHY BEAT UP PHILIP SALON??????!!?!?!?

Philip Sallon, 59, a flamboyant figure on the West End club scene, is recovering in hospital after the assault nearPiccadilly Circus in the early hours of Saturday.

Mr Sallon, from St John's Wood, who founded the Mud Club in TottenhamCourt Road in the Eighties, was stamped on and kicked in the head and suffered broken bones in his face.

George, who wrote the music and lyrics to the West End hit Taboo in 2002 which featured Mr Sallon as himself, appealed for witnesses to come forward.

The 49-year-old singer also urged the person who called an ambulance to report his friend's injuries to contact the police.

George told the Standard: "I am very upset. He is my oldest and closest friend. He is not the sort of person I can imagine anyone wanting to beat up. It would be a total waste of time. He is a colourful character but certainly not aggressive.

"He is not someone who would have got into a fight. He is a bit like me and just goes out on his own.

"There must have been people there, it is a really public area. There are always lots of people coming in from clubs. Whoever called the ambulance wasn't around to give any evidence.

"The police are dealing with it but apparently there is no CCTV footage. Someone must have seen it, it was a brutal assault."

The singer said Mr Sallon is expected to make a full recovery but cannot remember the attack.

George took to Twitter last night to tell of his shock at the attack at about 3am near the Trocadero. Actor James Cordon was among Twitter users to condemn the attack. He wrote: "Oh my god. Is he ok? How horrific. He's such a lovely man x."

-the evening standard