World Exclusive: There was no fifth Beatle

Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr today confirmed that there were only four Beatles. Starr, 88, broke the news during an interview with police in Malibu. When asked by Chief of Police E P Rigby to state who was in the group with him, Mr Starr replied by naming John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

The news that there were only four Beatles will come as a shock to fans of the 1960s popular beat combo who had clung on to the belief that George Martin, Pete Best, Brian Wilson, George Best, Lord Archer or Peter Sellers was a Beatle.

Asked to comment on the disclosure, Sir Paul McCartney said: “Well, there are clues in our work, like the fact that there are only four Beatles on most of the album covers, and only four names credited as being Beatles. Also, during the concerts only the four of us performed.”

Alvin Mears, a Beatles ‘expert’, dismissed both former Beatles’ claims as “rubbish”. He told reporters: 'What do they know? One of them has been dead since the mid-1960s and the other was a drummer. Everyone knows there were five Beatles. Just like everyone knows Elvis is still alive. I know this for a fact because Jim Morrison told me he saw the King last week in the Bermuda Triangle.'