George Michael lifts lid on News Of The World gay sex story

George Michael has sensationally claimed News Of The World journalists tricked a member of the public into saying he'd had a gay sex romp with the singer.

George began what he called "today's rant" on Twitter by reasserting a claim he made on Tuesday that he'd declined to give evidence to the Leveson inquiry.

Refuting a spokersperson's statement that "the inquiry has never asked George Michael to appear", he said: "So apparently I'm lying about being approached by the Leveson Inquiry"

"A 'spokesman' says that I was never asked to participate."

"By which I suppose they mean they didn't actually have my phone number, so... they spoke to my legal team."

"Funnily enough, had they wanted my phone number they could probably have got it from News International!!"

The singer then proceeded to give his version of the events which led to a News Of The World exposé of his alleged cruising habits on Hampstead Heath.

According to George, "I sent the inquiry a letter from the poor man who was blackmailed (literally) into giving News international a completely fictional account of meeting me on Hampstead Heath."

George claimed the man sent him the letter by way of apology after being misled by News Of The World journalists, who "had followed him to his home in Brighton and told him that they had night vision pictures of... him having sex with a celebrity on the heath, and that unless he let them take pictures of him in daylight there and then, they would publish the pictures of that 'encounter'."

George further asserted that, having signed a statement, the man asked the identity of the celebrity in question. When they told him, George claimed the man replied, "But that's impossible.... Because the man I met was about 6 foot four and had a Dutch accent".

More explosively, George then claimed the man "had approached several television and news outlets to refute the story", but that none were interested except "The Sunday Mirror, who said that they might follow up his story but only if (and here comes the sickest bit !) he was HIV positive".

Having declared the tabloid press "sick f***ing b******s", the singer appeared to regain his sense of humour in announcing: "I was going to save it for the memoirs, but f*** it :)"

George had previously explained his refusal to take part in the inquiry by claiming it is "a sham".

Tweeting on Tuesday, he said: "It has been several years since two hacking journalists were sent to prison for bugging the royal family. They remain the only people who have been tried in the criminal courts."

"After all these years, and all the crimes committed by journos, editors, the police force and MPs. The best can do is 'enquiry' after 'inquiry' and no actual criminal prosecutions."

"Why on earth are the rights of the royal family ... more important than those of Milly Dowler's parents, or any of the hundreds of people whose lives have been violated by the press."