FORMER chief executive of Aberdeen Football Club Gordon Bennett left the club after being confronted about his activities in the city's red light district.

Club chairman Stewart Milne challenged Mr Bennett about the matter on Friday, after which, apparently, Mr Bennett went off in search of the woman he had paid for sex about 10 times previously.

Earlier, Mr Milne had checked with some of his closest advisers whether they too had heard the rumours which were circulating Aberdeen about the club's chief executive.

He then summoned Mr Bennett to his mansion in Aberdeen's upmarket suburb of Bieldside and told him that his post as chief executive at Pittodrie was no longer tenable.

A club insider said: ''As soon as he confirmed Stewart's worst fears, Stewart made it clear he had to go.

''He says he has some sympathy for Gordon, who claims he has a problem. But he was the public face of a family football club and he could not stay.''

Surprisingly, until Friday, the chairman of the struggling club had not been aware of the rumours and had dismissed the stories he had heard as ''tittle-tattle''.

However, the insider added: ''At the time the story came out about him being in the red light district, he was asked if there was anything more and he denied it.

''A lot of people in the club are quite annoyed because he looked them in the eye and told them lies.

''Gordon was incredibly naive. People in the club tried to warn him. He was told that Aberdeen is essentially a very small place of which the club is a big part. Because of the job he held, everything he did would be noticed by someone.''

That naivete continued when shortly after leaving Mr Milne's home, Mr Bennett went in search of the prostitute he had been seeing, 24-year-old Ms Julie McDonald.

The mother of three said: ''He never mentioned leaving but he seemed a bit down.''

Ms McDonald said the ex-Aberdeen chief executive - who quit for ''personal reasons'' - regularly paid her #80 for sex on a mattress in his flat. She said the 54-year-old bachelor had picked her up about 10 times in the past two months - with his face partly hidden by his jacket.

Their last meeting, she added, was on Friday night - just hours after claims of his behaviour had led to him being forced to clear his desk at Pittodrie.

Mr Bennett had announced just two weeks ago that he would resign from his post as chief executive of the club because of throat problems as soon as a successor could be found.

But the club issued a brief statement on Monday saying the now disgraced chief executive had asked to be released from his contract with immediate effect for ''personal reasons''.

Ms McDonald said last night: ''It was about two months ago I first met him when he drove up and asked me how much I charged.

''For a while he had just been driving about and never picking anyone up until he stopped and picked me.

''We did not do any business then, he just wanted someone to talk to him - and he tickled me and I tickled him.

''It was #60 for going to his flat and a #20 bonus because he liked me.

''He told me his name was Graeme, but I picked a letter up from the floor which said Mr G Bennett.

''It was that name that clicked, the Bennett part - I took a closer look at him as I had seen his picture heaps of times and he admitted it.

''He just asked if we could keep it between you and me - it's our thing.''