Chiswick comedian Al Murray is being threatened with legal action by the builder who he based his "dodgy" Bill Preston character on.
Malcolm Snape, 52, believes the popular funny-man is ruining his business by bad-mouthing him in his stand up acts, with the final straw coming when he ridiculed him while doing a gig in his home town of Preston.
Midway through his act Al stopped and asked: "Does anyone in here know dodgy builder Bill Preston, otherwise known as Malcolm Snape? Just to let you know he's conned me out of £20,000."
The pair fell out over the size of a patio built at Al's house in Chiswick as part of a £15,000 extension in 2003.
Malcolm said: "It wasn't my fault. Simple as that."
"This has escalated and escalated to where I'm just fed up of it all.
"Its affecting me and my business. He's an all right guy but there's a darker side to him.
He has now contacted solicitors in London. A spokes-man for Al said: "We haven’t heard from Mr Snape’s lawyers and have no further comment."
