SPECULATION is mounting that the King of Rock and Roll may have once flown into Suffolk as part of a secret visit to the England in 1958.

SPECULATION is mounting that the King of Rock and Roll may have once flown into Suffolk as part of a secret visit to the England in 1958.

Revelations that Elvis Presley visited Tommy Steele first emerged in a radio interview with Bill Kenwright - a friend of the entertainer who was regarded as the UK's answer to Elvis.

And it is now thought Elvis may have used the American base at RAF Mildenhall as a “secret way” into the UK to avoid paparazzi lurking at the recently renovated Gatwick airport.

Mr Kenwright told Radio 2's Ken Bruce show Tracks Of My Years: “Elvis came to England. Nobody thinks he did and I hope Tommy doesn't go mad when I tell you.

“Tommy got a phone call one night. It said: 'They tell me you're good' and Tommy replied: 'Who's this?' The caller said: 'It's Elvis,' and Tommy said: 'Get outta here.' And Elvis said: 'Are you as good as me?'

"And they talked and they got a friendship. Elvis flew in for a day. Tommy showed him round London... showed him the Houses of Parliament and spent the day with him.”

It was always thought that the closest Presley ever got to England was a brief stopover at Prestwick airport in Scotland in 1960, on his way home from his army base in Germany.

Now, however, it appears the Suffolk base may have been used when he flew in.

Peter Merrick, who runs Mildenhall Museum, said: “I suppose anything can happen if you're famous. If the base commander gave the nod then it wouldn't be put on the records.”

An RAF Mildenhall spokesman said: “I cannot speculate whether he came because it is not in our records.”

Alan Wells, from Mildenhall, who keeps a shrine to Elvis and named his own daughter after Elvis's daughter, Lisa Marie, said he found the claims unlikely because he was so famous at that time.

Mr Wells said: “For him to be sat in the back of a car driving round London with Tommy Steele is too good to be true. I find it hard to believe.”

Cockney singer Steele, now 71, said that he had promised never to reveal the visit in public and that he regretted that it had come out in the open.

He told the Daily Mail newspaper: “What actually happened many years ago is something secret and memorable.

“I swore never to divulge publicly what took place and I regret that it has found some way of getting into the light. I can only hope he can forgive me.”