CELEBRITY chef Gordon Ramsay has told a High Court judge that he reacted with "shock and horror" when he made the discovery that his wife Tana's father used a ghost writer machine to "forge" his signature on a £640,000 annual rental deal .
Ramsay is claiming the machine was used without his knowledge to sign the rental for the historic York & Albany pub near Regent's Park in London.
He is seeking a declaration that the guarantee does not bind him to the 25-year lease, because his signature "was not lawfully authorised" in 2007.
The chef says that his father-in-law, Christopher Hutcheson, had acted as his business manager for his group of companies.
He told Chancery judge Mr Justice Morgan his "deep and extensive trust in Hut-cheson was entirely mis-placed" and his father-in-law had defrauded him and the group out "of hundreds of thousands of pounds".
In 2010, Mr Hutcheson was "summarily dismissed" from the group.
His solicitors later discovered that his signature had appeared on a personal guarantee in the lease for the York & Albany.
Ramsay told the court that discovering the existence of the lease guarantee was "a shock - a devastation".
He said: "The company is still on the hook for the lease, and what was devastating for my wife and I was that we were guaranteeing it until 2033.
"There were many horrific discoveries because I can recognise my signature and pinpoint one forged by machine."
The machine had been obtained to sign signatures "for purposes of merchandising material only".
The judge was told a key issue in the case was whether Mr Hutcheson was authorised to use the "ghost writer" machine on the guarantee.
Film director Gary Love, who owns the York & Albany, has described Ramsay's allegation as an "absurd" bid to wriggle out of his rental commitments. He is opposing Ramsay's application for a declaration that he is not bound by the guarantee.
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