TV weather girl 'was paid 100,000 by Silvio Berlusconi'

A TV weather girl was paid more than 100,000 by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi after attending his sex parties, it emerged today.

Prosecutors have discovered bank records which show how Mr Berlusconi paid 26-year-old Alessandra Sorcinelli, 10,000 a month.

A text message from Miss Sorcinelli is included in a 389-page prosecution document. It says: "May I urgently remind you of the 10,000 bank transfer."

Today she said the money was "an assistance as I was in difficulty". She added: "There is little to understand and I don't have to give a justification. Those bank transfers came at a time when I was in difficulty.

"I was given financial support from the prime minister because I was without a job. This was not money in return for silence. I have a precarious job and life is expensive and he helped me.

"To be honest, thanks to him last summer I was able to go to Los Angeles and study acting. Please, I've had enough of calling them parties, they were dinners. Peaceful, elegant dinners, where we listened to music and anecdotes from the prime minister.

"There were young people like me and we would talk about everything from politics to gossip. I was always personally invited by the prime minister because we have been friends for a long time."

The document details a payment, described as a "non-interest earning loan", from Mr Berlusconi's account into one in Miss Sorcinelli's name. Mr Berlusconi is being investigated over allegations that he paid a 17-year-old belly dancer Karima "Ruby" El Mahroug for sex after she attended one of his "bunga bunga" parties.

The prosecutors have acquired "interesting photographs" from the parties. They were downloaded from computers, cameras and mobile phones seized during raids at the women's homes this month.

The complex on the outskirts of Milan has been described as Mr Berlusconi's harem and last week the women were served eviction notices after the residents' association complained they "lowered the tone" of the area.

An opinion poll in today's Corriere Della Sera newspaper said 49 per cent of those questioned said Mr Berlusconi should resign , with 45 per cent saying he should stay. Six per cent were undecided.