When Margaret Thatcher arrived for a hospital appointment, hospital staff had bed number ten ready for her.

Little did the nurses know that this was no ex-prime minister but a 68-year-old Rustington resident with the same name.

Margaret, of Westlands Road, said: "When I was in hospital recently they looked stunned because they had heard my name. They couldn't believe they had Margaret Thatcher in the hospital.

"They gave me bed number ten but I don't know if it was on purpose or not."

Sussex's Margaret Thatcher has trouble convincing people of the truthfulness of her name.

She said: "People don't believe it. They think I am joking, making it up. It has caused many a giggle.

"But after all, I had the name before she did."

Margaret's husband John Thatcher, not Denis, said the couple had experienced many incidents.

He said: "When we lived in East Finchley, Margaret Thatcher was the MP for Finchley. So when my Margaret broke her wrist just before the 1979 General Election, the doctor exclaimed: 'Oh dear, and so near the election as well.'

"On another occasion a friend of ours called Chris was moving into a council house nearby, so Margaret sent a card to wish her well.

"Chris asked the man who was fitting her carpets if there was any mail for her and he nearly took his hand off with his hammer when he saw a welcome card from Margaret Thatcher."

When the Reverend Keith Richards lived in London, the phone never stopped ringing.

Mr Richards was inundated with calls from lovestruck girls desperate to speak to their favourite rock 'n' roll star.

The 51-year-old, of Maltravers Street, Arundel, said: "Girls from the United States would ring me up all the time to ask who I was dating.

"I must admit I played along with it from time to time, just for the fun of it. It was wonderful."

He said: "I do get the occasional quip, such as 'Where's your guitar?' and 'How's Mick Jagger?'

"Some wedding couples have found it very amusing that Keith Richards is going to marry them."

David Seaman's wife Josie gets some funny looks when she pays for shopping with her husband's credit card.

"You're not married to THE David Seaman are you?", she is often asked.

She replies: "Would I be shopping in Tesco if I was?"

David, 53, of Blackpatch Grove, Shoreham, looks nothing like the Arsenal goalkeeper but his friends let him know when his namesake has had a bad game.

David said: "I am often asked 'What made you do that on Saturday?' But then again I have been injured for a while now, haven't I?"

Driving instructor David broke the heart of a pupil whose mother had told him that David Seaman was going to teach him to drive.

He said: "The young lad looked devastated when I turned up to teach him. He was most upset."

Meanwhile, Sompting's Frank Skinner is furious his celebrity namesake chose to change his name from Chris Collins.

Ex-electrician Frank, 63, quipped: "I'm going to sue that joker for taking my name. How dare he take my name in vain?

"When people hear my name they laugh and look, but I just tell them that I've had the name longer than he has."

Frank, of Valley Road, enjoys a quiet home life and has no aspirations towards television comedy.

He said: "Frank's all right but I'm not one of his greatest fans. We're easy to tell apart, that's for sure."

Lancing resident Pamela Anderson is a little embarrassed by her famous name but admits she wouldn't mind having a body like the former Baywatch television star.

Pamela, 57, who lives in Daniel Close, explained: "I couldn't be more different to her I'm afraid. I'd die for looks and a body like that."

She added: "Once my friends called me up to present a raffle at Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company pantomime. I felt like a real celebrity.

"It is funny and it turns people's heads, but I was Pamela Anderson before her."