FORMER Chester resident and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who fell out with his late father over the issue of class, talks about the British class system in a two-part TV series.

When Mr Prescott said he had “a middle-class income”, his dad Bert, who lived in Newtown until his death at the age of 90 in 2001, insisted his son was still working class.

In BBC Two show Prescott: The Class System and Me, the former cruise ship steward takes viewers on a personal exploration of the current state of the British class system.

Despite his northern working-class image, Mr Prescott is Welsh, having been born in Prestatyn in 1938. But, as the son of railway worker Bert, his family moved around with the job, which was how the Prescotts ended up living in Chester.

A major influence on his life was his failure to pass the 11-plus exam, which meant he could not attend the boys grammar school in Chester and instead had to go to Grange Secondary Modern in Ellesmere Port.

Mr Prescott met his wife Pauline in Chester in 1957 when he was 19 and she was 18. He knew of her before he started seeing her because she worked in a hair salon, Quaintways, which was part of a store where RB’s nightclub is today.

The pair loved dancing and going to jazz clubs, which was how they became friends with Gordon Vickers, co-owner of The Mill Hotel, who promoted musical acts in Chester and who read a poem when Mr Prescott’s father’s ashes were scattered at Chester Racecourse.

The first part of Prescott: The Class System and Me is on from 9-10pm on Monday.