Day wife found out her doctor husband had led a double life for 18 years; EXCLUSIVE MOTHER-OF-FOUR NEVER REALIZED THE MAN SHE LOVED HID A SHOCKING SECRET.

Byline: BY JONNY GREATREX

THE angry wife of a top Midlands doctor has told how she discovered he had a secret second family with his mistress - who lives just three miles away.

Consultant paediatrician Alun Elias-Jones, 57, is being divorced bymum-of-four Hazel after she uncovered his 18-year affair with nurse Dee Beresford.

She claims her husband, an expert in child protection, had three kids with his mistress - and their families now live just three miles apart in Leicestershire.

Incredibly, furious Hazel only discovered the astonishing double life her husband had been leading after he had suffered a stroke and left incriminating evidence - a pair of toddler's tights - in their home.

She said: "We had been married for 24 years when I found out.

"I suspected he had been having an affair, but had no idea it had been going for 18 years. He confided in no-one, not even his best friend who is now dead. "He led a normal family life."

Alun and Hazel, 52, met while both employed at the Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridgeshire, where he was working within the Geriatrics Department and she was a physiotherapist.

Married They eventually married and had four children in four years, with the mum staying at home to bring up the kids.

The couple moved to Nottingham in the late 1980s when Dr Elias-Jones took up a post at the Queen's Medical Centre - where his wife claims he first met nurse Dee and began an affair.

Hazel and her young family moved into a fivebedroom home in Loughborough in 1993 with her husband. Their children have now all left home.

Meanwhile, mum-of-three Dee is currently living at a new housing development in sleepy Burton on the Wolds - just a few miles away.

A family source revealed how the affair was discovered on October 11, 2006, after the doctor had suffered a stroke following a road crash.

She said: "His wife came home from visiting him at hospital and found a pair of tights for a two year-old girl on their kitchen table.

"All their kids are grown up, so she later questioned Alun on what they were doing there.

"He eventually admitted the affair with Dee and that he had a second family.

"Hazel is still upset and angry - and two of their children are no longer talking to their father." Yet despite the betrayal, Hazel initiallycontinued to care for her husband after his stroke which had left him weakened and with bad eyesight.

But when he was well enough she booted him out of the family home and he now lives with his mistress and second family.

Dr Elias-Jones is a leading Midlands paediatrician and currently works as a community doctor. He is the named doctor for child protection for Leicester City and County Primary Care Trusts.

Yet the SundayMercury can also reveal he is currently serving a one month suspension from his job after his SECOND drink drive conviction.

The first offence in 2002 saw him serve a 12 month ban, reduced to nine months after he attended a drink driving awareness course.

But on July 22 in 2006 he was caught driving while around twice over the limit in Loughborough town centre - this time while on call with his job.

The family source said: "He is a keen squash player and had left home in the evening, claiming he was meeting a friend for a match. But wife Hazel now believes he had been visiting his lover before going to pick up fish and chips on the way back to the family home.

"He parked his Peugeot estate car so poorly when getting the food that when police sawit they decided to wait for the driver to return.

"After he returned to the car, police breathalysed him and found him twice the legal limit.

"Not only too drunk to drive, he was also on call as part of his job within University of Leicester NHS Trust."

Dr Elias-Jones was fined pounds 1,500 and disqualified from driving for three years by Loughborough Magistrates' Court for his second drink drive offence.

His conviction saw him sacked by the Neonates and General Paediatrics Department of Leicester Royal Infirmary and Children's Hospital.

Earlier this month the paediatrician, who qualified from Bristol University in 1978, was hauled before a General Medical Council tribunal to explain why he could not fulfil his duties on the night of his arrest.

The panel suspended him for a month saying: "In 2002 you were convicted of driving with excess alcohol, which brought youto the attention of theGMC.

You received medical advice to reduce your alcohol intake, which it is evident that you did not follow.

"You drove your Peugeot estate motor car on Bedford Square (Loughborough) after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in your breath exceeded 76 micrograms in 100 millilitres breath.

"In all the circumstances of this case, the panel has determined it is sufficient and proportionate to suspend your registration for a period of one month.

"We concluded this is sufficient to maintain public confidence in the profession and sends out a signal to you, the profession and the public that your behaviour was totally unacceptable." It was the second drink driving conviction which eventually led to the unravelling of Dr Elias-Jones' affair.

After being banned from the road, he had began using a pushbike to get around the area.

But while cycling in the West Bridgford part of Nottingham in October 2006, he was hit by a car and later suffered a stroke after a blood vessel ruptured in his head.

Wife Hazel had been visiting her parents in Falmouth, Cornwall, at the time and rushed back home to Leicestershire - where she found the damning evidence of children's tights still on the kitchen table.

Divorce proceedings are now underway.

Yet their Loughborough neighbours were shocked at news of the doctor's love life.

One said: "It's a horrible situation for everyone involved, just horrible."

And neighbours at his new home were equally in the dark. "Theymoved in about six months ago," said mobile phone mast engineer Simon Jackson, 40.

"I have never seen either of them in the local and I do not really speak to them much."

The Sunday Mercury rang Dr Elias-Jones but he refused to comment. He said: "I don't want to talk about it." Ms Beresford said: "These are very personal things and I do not want to talk about them."

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CAPTION(S):

ANGRY: mum-of-four Hazel; DOUBLE LIFE: Alun Elias-Jones pictured enjoying himself with a drink in his hand and (far right) his mistress Dee Beresford. Below, a map shows how close the two families live