A conman posed as Francis Rossi from Status Quo for a year in Dover, Kent, before being rumbled.

The man promised the town council he would perform for free at their festival and would bring along pals including Queen’s Brian May, Paul McCartney and Charlotte Church to the show.

Councillors treated the trickster, who named himself “Graham” to “remain incognito”, to free rides in the mayor’s limousine and dinners - and he even judged a carnival float contest, and was pictured with the carnival queen Dover Castle.

According to The Sun, Graham explained his missing ponytail, a trademark of Rossi’s, by saying: “I can’t grow my hair long anymore - a fake one is stuck on three hours before a gig.”

It was only discovered the conman was not Rossi when his star friends didn’t turn up to the gig like he had promised.

The imposter then fled the town, without his true identity being discovered.

Reacting to the news, the real Francis Rossi joked: “I’ll never know how he knew the secret about my ponytail.”