Yet on a grey and cold spring evening, Newark Road was touched with a bit of Hollywood glitz when Kathy Hilton, mother of Paris, came to town to promote her skincare and perfume range.

Having flown over with her famous daughter, Paris stayed in London while parents Rick and Kathy travelled up to Peterborough on Friday to appear live on TV at the Ideal World channel.

Known for her sartorial elegance, it was refreshing to hear that even Kathy Hilton has to improvise at times.

She told The ET: "I got changed on the train, as I had actually thought the journey was longer. I had on my sweats as I like to travel in comfort, when I suddenly realised we were at Peterborough.

"I dashed to the toilet where I had to try to manoeuvre into my trousers without touching the floor. I then managed to leave my clothes in the trunk (boot) of the taxi, so one of the models had to lend me a shirt at the last minute. I was actually prepared to go wearing a robe."

Mrs Hilton, a big fan of England, first visited the country a quarter of a century ago.

She said: "I loved it from the first moment I got off the plane and saw the words 'water closet', I was mesmerised.

I love the English accents and words, I love 'bloke' and 'chap'. I even tried to do the accent myself ringing Paris, pretending to be room service, which she thought was hilarious. She said I sounded like a witch."

When asked what she thought of Peterborough, she said: "It's great, we were taking pictures on the train all the way up, the countryside is beautiful. And the people here are so polite."

Even husband Rick, a multi-millionaire property developer worth more than £300 million, thought Peterborough was great. He said: "It's lovely, I haven't seen much of it, but I really like the big church".

The Hiltons' visit caused quite a stir at the city studios as they are two of the biggest stars ever to grace the channel, with Patsy Palmer of EastEnders a previous big name visitor.

Marketing manager Charlotte Capper said: "We filmed Kathy from the moment she arrived at the studio at 4.14pm before going live on air.

"She has given us exclusivity for her brand of products. She was really approachable and very down to earth. We are hoping she will come back in the summer as we would love to see her again".

A former actress, Kathy recently starred as herself in the hit US soap, the Young and Restless.

The whistlestop visit to Peteborough may have lasted only six hours, but it might not be the last, with talk that even Paris might join her mother next time.

Factfile: the Hiltons

• Conrad Hilton Snr, Paris's great-grandfather founded the Hilton Hotel chain, building his first high-rise hotel in Dallas in 1925.


• Born in New York City in 1981, Paris Hilton is the oldest of four children of Richard and Kathy Hilton. She has a sister Nicky and brothers Barron and Conrad.


• Paris Hilton's paternal grandparents are hotel chairman Barron Hilton, and his wife, the former Marilyn Hawley; Barron Hilton's parents were Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and his first wife, Mary Barron.


• Paris moved between several exclusive homes in her youth, including a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and the Hamptons.


• In December 2007, Barron Hilton pledged 97 percent of his estate to a charitable organisation founded by his father, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.


• a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Hilton" target="_blank" title="Link will open in a new window or tab">Kathy Hilton - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


• Paris Hilton - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

External link: www.idealworld.tv.

The Evening Telegraph is not responsible for the content of external websites.