A new memoir offers a rare glimpse into life at a "revolutionary" former west London seminary, which opened up the clergy to the working classes.

Greg Watts spent two years at Osterley's Campion House College during the early '80s, studying for a possible career in the Catholic Church.

Rather than setting him on the past to priesthood, as it did for more than 1,500 students over the years, his time there convinced him to become an author.

Now with 14 books under his belt, the 54-year-old father-of-two has shared his fond memories of his Campion House days in his first autobiographical work, The Long Road Out of Town.

"Campion House was a revolutionary institution for the Catholic Church. Before it opened, priesthoods were the preserve of the upper and middle classes, and there was no place for working class men from the north or Midlands, like myself," he said.

Greg Watts today with some of his previous books

He added: "I grew up in a small town in Derbyshire and left school with one O-level. I tried numerous jobs, including working as a bank clerk and a chimney sweep, before deciding maybe God was calling me to be a priest.

"I had two wonderful years and was taught by some brilliant tutors including my English teacher Jim Smith, who still lives in Isleworth, who inspired me to become a writer.

"I think a lot of the locals were intrigued by the seminary but had little idea what went on there. Most of us students had very short hair, which led some people to think we were soldiers at the barracks in Hounslow."

Mr Watts, who now lives in Sydenham, said there was a strict regime at Campion House, in Thornbury Road, with students rising at 6.30am each day and doing manual work around the grounds between lessons. However, that didn't stop them getting up to mischief.

Pranks and brutal football teams

He recalls how he once persuaded the female cook to pose as an admirer and arrange a Valentine's Day rendezvous at The Milford Arms, in Isleworth, with another student, only for the fall guy to be greeted by his grinning classmates.

He also remembers the fiercely competitive matches which took place on the seminary's football pitch, including a visit by an 'absolutely brutal' team of Irish clergymen.

Campion House College was founded in 1917 by Father Edmund Lester at the old Victorian mansion Thornbury House. It met the huge demand for a career in the church from First World War veterans haunted by the horrors of the battlefields.

The college eventually closed in 2004 after student numbers dwindled, and the site is now a large housing development but Campion House itself has been preserved and Mr Watts said some of the streets had been named after former rectors.

The author said there was a high dropout rate but more than 1,500 people went on to become priests after attending Campion House, serving around the world.

His latest work is a far cry from some of his previous books, which include several real-life gangster stories, among them the best-seller From Gangland to Promised Land.

He has also written biographies of Rembrandt and Mother Teresa, and in 2003 covered the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

The Long Road Out of Town: A Memoir is published by Milestone Books, priced £8.99.