A PRETTY beautician has blasted a "love-rat" who bombarded her with poems, calls and e-mails from Hyndburn Council offices.

Leanne Fogg, 28, started an affair with "charming, smooth-talking" Lee Middlehurst after she nipped in to pay her council tax bill at Accrington Town Hall.

But she was horrified to discover he was married with a baby and another on the way.

Devastated Leanne claims Mr Middlehurst, 33, got her pregnant during one of their lunchtime romps, but she miscarried after the trauma of uncovering his double life.

She said: "I can't put it into words. We were a truly loving couple for nine months and I thought the world of him. He covered his tracks very well, telling me he lived with his parents and promising me the world.

"My dreams of marriage were shattered and I went from having a loving partner and enjoying happiness to being alone, pregnant and heartbroken. To add insult to injury he had the audacity to have the police issue me with a harassment order."

Leanne, who lives in Sultan Street, Accrington, with two children from a previous relationship, Erynn, six months, and Freya, two, only realised he was married when his wife, Karen, answered his mobile phone.

"I couldn't believe it," she said.

"This woman answered and said she was his wife. I said: 'Hang on, I'm his girlfriend.' She thought I was a crank and wanted proof. So I described the underpants he was wearing.

"Within an hour she was at my house with her sister and I showed the cards, poems and a pile of e-mails he'd sent me from Accrington Town Hall during our nine-month affair.

"I feel so sorry for her, we're both heartbroken."

Mr Middlehurst, a customer services team leader, was quoted in a national Sunday newspaper as saying: "Yes, I did have an affair with Leanne. I regret it very much... regret doesn't begin to explain it."

But this week he refused to comment at his home in Darwen, where he is on paternity leave.

As well as the new baby, he has a nine-year-old daughter from a previous relationship and an 18-month-old toddler.

Hyndburn Council conducted an inquiry after Miss Fogg made a formal complaint but it has refused to reveal the outcome, describing it as an internal matter.

David Welsby, managing director, said: "Mr Middlehurst admitted he had an affair but we are unable to confirm details relating to individual employees involved in a grievance hearing. As an employer we just aren't allowed to."

Leanne said: "He used council equipment and works time to conduct the affair but no-one will tell me what's happened.''