It was a riches-to-rags story with a killer dose of Schadenfreude. A former newsreader, who at one stage drew a £100,000 salary, returned to the headlines last week when he announced that he was homeless and slept on a bench on the East Sussex seafront.

Ed Mitchell, the former ITN newsreader, said that he had been sleeping rough in Hove for nine months, that his only possessions were “a rucksack, a sleeping bag and my clothes” and that his well-kept appearance was down to the proximity of his bench to one of Britain’s best public lavatories.

But last night Mr Mitchell’s mother said that her son, whose story has been covered around the world, was not telling the whole truth. Joyce Mitchell, of nearby Lancing, said that her son had been living with her for the summer until she tired of his drunkenness and asked him to leave in September. She also said that Mr Mitchell, 54, keeps designer clothes in her garage and returns regularly to get washed and do his laundry.

When The Times visited Mrs Mitchell’s two-bedroom bungalow, the garage was packed with bin-liners containing designer shirts, cashmere jumpers and expensive coats. One neighbour, who had helped to move the items out of Mrs Mitchell’s house, said that she had counted 20 Savile Row suits among the collection.

Mr Mitchell lists his mother’s house as his contact address on his bankruptcy papers. He told journalists that he had been sleeping rough since February, but Mrs Mitchell, 82, said that he had stayed with her for three months until she kicked him out in September.

Mr Mitchell has maintained that his decline was as a result of the fickleness of credit card companies, and that he was desperate for any kind of job, however menial. But Mrs Mitchell, a former Wren, said that her son’s alcoholism was the reason for his decline and that his lack of effort in trying to get back on his feet had driven her to despair. She said: “I didn’t want him to stay. He never did anything about looking for a job and he never lifted a finger in the house or in the garden. He just went out and came back drunk. I told him he wasn’t doing anything. The pension only stretches so far. I’ve helped him every way I can.”

Mrs Mitchell has written down her feelings about her son. In one note she wrote: “Ed is using my house as a resting place. Why should I, his mother of 82 years, have to put up a son of 54 who won’t get his life together? He’s a very bright person who’s lost his way but won’t do anything about it.

“Why? Because he’s in denial of the whole situation, getting more and more in debt until now he’s been told debt collectors are on his tail. I’ve never felt so unhappy. I’m at breaking point. Why have you, Ed, my son, done this to me? How I’ve tried my very best to help you. But all you ever say is that it’s not your fault which, of course, is not the truth.”

Mrs Mitchell said that she was not sure of the reasons behind her son’s story, but could not rule out a link to comments he had made in interviews that he was writing a book about his fall from grace.

She said that his ex-wife, Judith, was “livid” with Mr Mitchell for the embarrassment he had caused to her and their children, Freddie, 22, and Alexandra, 25. Judith Mitchell refused to answer her door yesterday. Mr Mitchell could not be contacted either. Sussex Police said that he was arrested on Sunday after an alleged violent incident at a four-star hotel, where he had been put up by a Sunday newspaper. He was later released without charge.

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