It seems the 53-year-old scouser bears an uncanny resemblance to Joshua Taylor, a well respected woollen cloth merchant who featured in Charlotte Bronte's novel Shirley.

A mannequin of Taylor sits at the museum in Oxford Road, Gomersal, and a visitor, and viewer of the programme sent a picture and a letter which Paul – who shot to fame as the character Lily Savage – read on air.

Museum officer Helga Hughes said: "The letter said something along the lines of 'I went out with my friend to visit our local museum and saw this figure that was a spitting image of you'.

"It was accompanied by a photo of our mannequin of Joshua Taylor in the Red House Study.

"I then emailed Paul to let him know that his lookalike was also famous – Charlotte was a friend of the Taylor family and often stayed at Red House with her close lifelong friend, Joshua's daughter Mary. Charlotte featured all the family and Red House itself in her novel.

"We received a thank you letter from the Paul O'Grady Show team plus a nodding Buster.

"The letter and Buster are now on public display and we have had people come to visit 'Paul' in his part-time job at Red House!"

For more information about the mannequin or any of the other exhibitions call 01274 335100.