SWINDON’S most famous daughter was locked in a High Court tussle almost exactly 47 years ago.

Press photographers turned out in force as Diana Dors walked into Royal Courts of Justice for a bankruptcy hearing.

Reporters jostled for spaces on the press benches in the hope of hearing tales of showbiz excess, and were not disappointed.

The actress owed the Inland Revenue £48,000, which is hardly small change today but in 1978 would have bought about 10 fairly large detached houses in her home town.

Much of the case centred on tax officials’ claims that Diana had squirrelled away undeclared earnings.

Although her days as a major box office draw were in the past, she still commanded large sums for personal appearances.

We said: “Miss Dors agreed that she appeared at Titos Club in Cardiff in July, 1967. Her fee was £1,000 and she asked for cash because clubs, unlike film companies, were unreliable.

“In fact, only part of the money from Titos Club went to her direct. The rest was paid by her to a friend.”

Diana told the court: “He was helping me in the management of my affairs at the time.”

We added: “In 1960, she went on, she received £36,000 for a series of articles in the News of the World. After her agent had taken a substantial percentage, part of the money she received went into a trust.

“She was now living at Orchard Manor, Sunningdale, a house owned by the trust.”

The News of the World articles infamously led Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher to describe Diana as a wayward hussy.

History must decide whether Fisher had the right to judge anybody’s morals, as he was a former public school head teacher later accused of a sadistic fondness for caning small children’s backsides.

As the court hearing continued, Diana denied transferring a Californian home to a former husband, television presenter Dicky Dawson, to put it out of reach of creditors. She also revealed that her recent wedding to actor Alan Lake had been paid for by more revelations sold to a newspaper.

Diana survived bankruptcy and went on to become a respected character actress, author, chat show guest. She died in 1984.

Alan Lake was with her for the rest of her life, and later took his own because he couldn’t bear to be without her.