Boxer Mike Tyson has run into fresh controversy after breaking the rules of a Royal park with an early morning jog.

The convicted rapist and his entourage unwittingly broke the 1997 Royal Parks and Open Spaces Regulations by taking a run in Hyde Park more than three hours after it had closed on Tuesday morning.

A Royal Parks spokesman said the boxer could have faced a £200 fine had the matter gone to court, but added that the pedestrian entrance had been left open.

Tyson's visit has been dogged by controversy from the moment it emerged that the convicted rapist could be refused entry to Britain under immigration rules banning those with serious convicitons.

The former heavyweight world champion is in the country to fight British champion Julius Francis on 29 January.

But he has been under fire from women's groups who have branded him "dangerous" and has been the focus of 24-hour media scrutiny.

On Wednesday he was branded an unfit role model ahead of a planned visit to Manchester for a walkabout among young people in Moss Side.

Plans by Tyson to meet youngsters in the area, which has seen a spate of fatal shootings in the past year, were unwelcome, said community leader Father Phil Sumner.

"We are all flawed, but he is seriously flawed," he said.

"If someone really feels they could do some good then you appreciate them making the effort but really we would prefer someone else came."

Earlier in the week the pressure group Justice for Women was refused an application for a judicial review of Home Secretary Jack Straw's decision to allow the former world heavyweight champion to fly into the UK on Sunday.

Mr Straw has defended his decision to allow Tyson into the country

It was "neither a bizarre nor an irrational decision", said Mr Straw, but one made because of "exceptional circumstances".

Tyson was allowed into Britain to prevent small businesses relying on the fight from going bankrupt, he said.

But Mr Straw said he understood the "abhorrence" some people felt.

Shopping spree strands Mel G

A Tyson shopping trip to London's exclusive Sloane Street on Tuesday attracted large numbers of fans and journalists.

Scary Spice Mel G was stranded on the pavement outside the Gucci shop after staff shut the premises for the boxer.

She chatted on a mobile phone and - seemingly oblivious to the mass of waiting fans and press - walked up to one of Gucci's doors and tried to get in.

Discovering it was locked, she said in surprise: "Oh, it's locked. I'll have to come back later." She then sped off in a silver Mercedes.