SHOPPERS at a supermarket in Leigh are in safe hands -- the deputy store manager used to be a bodyguard to the rich and famous.

Turning his back on a career in which he was shot at and stabbed four times while protecting the likes of Tony Blair and Nigel Benn, Carl Hayes has plumped for the quieter life among the food aisles in Netto.

And even though the 31-year-old nurses a host of wounds from various assignments in London and Manchester, his training has already been put to good use.

Only last week he managed to calm down an unruly customer thanks to his 12 months of training which started when Mr Hayes, who was born in Westhoughton and attended the now-closed Cardinal Newman School in Hindley, became a bodyguard at the age of 21.

The job, he said, came as a result of "who you know, not what you know", adding: "My mum hated me doing it but it was well paid -- around £1,000 a week.

"The more dangerous jobs involved looking after rich people, mainly the Arab businessmen. The problems with the famous ones just tended to centre around fans who were usually harmless."

Mr Hayes had to fight for his life in hospital when he was stabbed in the back while protecting a rich Arab businessman outside a hotel in London.

He said the attack was possibly an attempted mugging on his wealthy client and because of his job he had to "get in the way".

The 18-stone man, who has signed the Official Secrets Act and a number of contract clauses banning him from revealing too much information, said: "I've been shot at as well but fortunately no bullet has ever hit me."

Mr Hayes took part in boxing and martial arts in his spare time to get his body into peak condition.

He joked: "I had 18 stone of muscle. That's when I was a bit younger, though."

Asked why he quit the lucrative and varied world of bodyguarding for a Curly Watts style of life, he said: "There were many things that got me down.

"We would have to do things like evict New Age travellers who are a nuisance but harmless.

"I really enjoy working at Netto as there's a lot of variety and I still meet lots of different people."