Dominic Cummings sighting could have been me, suggests TV antiques expert

A TV antiques expert who is based in Barnard Castle said he might have been wrongly identified as the Downing Street adviser Dominic Cummings.

David Harper, who has lived in the market town for 20 years, said a few weeks ago when he was coming out of his shop someone said “morning, Dominic” to him.

As a regular on the BBC show Bargain Hunt, as well as other programmes, he said he is frequently recognised by people who cannot quite place his name.

Mr Harper has previously signed an autograph for someone convinced he was the cookery presenter Gregg Wallace.

He tweeted: “I was mistaken for someone called Dominic a few weeks ago, when doing work on my shop in Barnard Castle … now it makes sense.”

Mr Harper told the PA news agency he could not be sure if this explains the reported sightings of Mr Cummings in Barnard Castle.

He said: “I have been called all sorts of names by people so someone saying ‘Dominic’ to me came as no surprise until this all blew up.

“Whether I am the one that people thought was Dominic Cummings, I just don’t know.

“I don’t think I look like him, my wife doesn’t think I do, but maybe some people do.

“I’m a middle-aged male, white and bald. There’s quite a lot of us around.”

Mr Harper is opening an antiques brokerage in the town, tours theatres talking about his specialised subject and is about to launch a new book called A Romp with the Georgians.

He said: “Barnard Castle is a fantastic town, a lovely place to visit.”