A BOURNEMOUTH care assistant is enjoying life as Lord of the Manor – thanks to his startling resemblance to Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville.

A chance comment at a car boot sale prompted 54-year-old Andy West to offer his services as a Hugh Bonneville lookalike.

And he is now finding himself in demand, with bookings ranging from entertaining guests at a private party to impersonating Hugh in a comedy sketch show.

Andy, of Harewood Avenue in Southbourne, said: “It was about a year ago that we were at the Ashley Heath car boot sale and a van pulled alongside us and the driver said ‘Excuse me mate, my wife’s been watching you during the course of the morning and she thinks you’re the spitting image of Hugh Bonneville from Downton Abbey.’

“I also had people at work saying that whenever they watched Downton Abbey, they didn’t see Lord Grantham, they saw me. Everyone said that I didn’t just look like him, we had the same mannerisms too.”

Andy contacted the Susan Scott lookalike agency in London and is now one of 8,000 celebrity doubles on their books.

He has already been the guest of honour at a 70th birthday party at Highclere Castle, where much of Downton Abbey is filmed, and has taken part in an edition of the Channel 4 sketch show Cardinal Burns.

“The party was great because everybody there was a big Downton Abbey fan,” he said. “One little girl even came up to me and said ‘Lord Grantham, do you live here?’ “To me the whole thing is just a crack, it’s just good fun. If it comes to something, great, if not that’s fine too.

“It’s never been me saying I look like him, it’s only ever come from other people.”

He and his partner Christine are both big Downton Abbey fans and he added: “She’s all for it, she gets a bit embarrassed sometimes but treats it all as good fun.”