by Simon Tulett
stulett@thekmgroup.co.uk

A Downing Street manager who helped run offices at the Treasury was shown the door after borrowing the Chancellor’s duvet and using his shower.

Pauline North arranged meetings, ran charity events, and organised household staff at Number 11.

But she got into hot water with Alistair Darling’s wife, Maggie, for using the couple’s flat without permission.

The 62-year-old, of Brewers Field, Wilmington, has accepted an undisclosed cash settlement.

It follows her suspension and subsequent resignation after security staff at the Treasury revealed her slip-up.

Mrs North had borrowed a duvet from the Chancellor’s bedroom, in a flat above Number 10, and slept on a sofa in Number 11 following a series of late-night meetings, popping back to the Darling’s flat the next morning for a shower.

Spare bedrooms and washing facilities reserved for Number 11 staff were all said to be unavailable.

Mrs North is said to have regarded the Darlings as friends and had used their facilities previously, with permission, following late-night receptions.

But on the occasion in February last year, she did not ask the couple, who were in Scotland, thinking they would not mind.

A source close to Mrs North, who had worked with Prime Minister Gordon Brown in his time as Chancellor, said Maggie Darling went “berserk” when she found out.

“She didn’t say anything for about a month, and then she had a right go at her.

"It was out of order - she should’ve just gone to her manager and done it that way and she would have got a slap on the wrists, but not this.”

Mrs North is said to have been reduced to tears following the outburst.

She spent the next year considering taking the matter to an employment tribunal, but feared she would not be able to withstand the stress.

She kept the matter from her family and friends for several months.

The source added: “She was so ashamed. She thought it would be OK.”

A friend said the Darlings and other Treasury staff had always had nothing but praise for Mrs North, who often worked 70-hour weeks.

“She was always coming back from there with bunches of flowers to say thanks for her help, and they were always saying there was no-one like her.

"She just feels betrayed that she worked there for so long and had to go because of a silly mistake.”

Mrs North was offered another job at the Treasury following her suspension, but opted for retirement and the cash settlement.