THE father of football star Paul Gascoigne last night scotched rumours that his son has suffered a major illness.

Gazza's dad, John, said the former Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, and England star had suffered a trapped nerve which had caused the left side of his body to go numb.

Concern rose for Gascoigne, 35, after he was admitted to the accident and emergency department at Gateshead's Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Saturday, suffering from a mystery numbness in his face.

Witnesses described Gascoigne as looking "thin as a rake" and pale and drawn, and said he seemed subdued.

But John Gascoigne, 56, of Dunston, said yesterday: "He has nipped a nerve - he hasn't had a stroke or a heart attack.

"The pain came on while he was training at the Marriott Hotel in Gateshead on Saturday morning.

"It started in his left little finger and during the morning the pain moved up his arm, into his neck and eventually to the muscles in the left side of his face.

"By midday it was causing him quite a bit of pain so he went to get it checked out."

He said a series of scans confirmed the doctors' suspicions that Gazza had suffered a trapped nerve.

Gazza's father said: "He felt better for knowing what was up and he was given the all clear at the hospital by the end of the day.

"He was fit enough to drive so he went down to London on Saturday night. He had massage therapy at the London hospital where he usually goes and now he's feeling fit as a fiddle."