Reproduced from Scotland On Sunday 25 August, 1997

John Alford, 25, who plays a fireman, Billy Ray, in the drama, was allegedly secretly filmed pocketing £300 for drugs samples supplied to an undercover reporter for the News of the World at a London hotel.

The Glaswegian actor, who is also pursuing a music career after two top 20 chart successes, was secretly photographed. He was unavailable for comment yesterday. In the article, he was quoted as telling the unnamed reporter: "I can get you everything you want. Believe me, if you said you wanted two ounces of charlie [cocaine], I could have it with you in an hour."

The reporter, who was posing as a businessman interested in signing up Alford for a celebrity appearance, was then allegedly sold three samples of cocaine and some cannabis for £300.

Blurred pictures appeared to show Alford taking the drugs out of his pocket and smoking cannabis in the unspecified hotel room.

The paper quoted him as admitting to his own cannabis addiction, saying: "I can't live without my smoke", as well as giving detailed descriptions of the different types of cocaine available.

He is reported to have said: "Pure cocaine, you can crush it up and snort it, or put it in a joint or whatever. There was some which I was getting before which was in a bottle. It's actually called cocaine hydrochloride and it is 100 per cent proof."

A powdered variety was quoted as "£50 or £60 a gram" while an ounce could be bought for a "special price" of £1,200, according to the article. He is also quoted as saying: "For cocaine, I can make a mobile phone call and it's only 15 minutes away."

Yesterday a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said they were awaiting a closer look at the evidence before taking any action against Mr Alford. "If the News of the World do pass on the information to us we will want to look into it further," the spokeswoman said. The paper confirmed that its dossier and films would be made available to police.

Meanwhile Alford's career in television looked to be under threat after the article came to the attention of executives at London Weekend Television, the company that makes London's Burning. "These are serious allegations and we will be talking to John next week," a spokeswoman for LWT said.

She refused to speculate further on the future of the actor, who is filming the final two episodes for a new series of the drama, to be broadcast this autumn - and refused to put Alford in touch with the media for his response to the allegations.

The actor began his TV career as a character in the BBC children's series Grange Hill, in which he starred until he was 16.

Like Robson and Jerome, who started their singing careers on the back of appearances in the TV series Soldier Soldier, Alford's regular appearances in London's Burning as the fresh-faced fireman have spawned a sideline in singing.

He achieved two top 20 hits last year with covers of Smoke Gets in your Eyes and Blue Moon, through the producers Mike Stock and Matt Aitken. London's Burning, which focuses on the personal and professional lives of the men at a London fire station, has become a staple of Saturday night viewing. It regularly attracts 14 million viewers.

Its mixture of high drama and safety information has won it backing from the real emergency service and sponsorship from the insurance giant Commercial Union.