PAUL KAYE - COHEN ACCUSED OF STEALING ALI G CHARACTER

British comedian PAUL KAYE has accused funnyman SACHA BARON COHEN of stealing his DENNIS PENNIS character and turning him into hit comic creation ALI G.

Kaye insists the man who helped him create Pennis - a spoof showbiz journalist who mocked celebrities at red carpet events - went on to work for Cohen and launched Ali G, who also offended unsuspecting celebrities at irreverent question and answer sessions.

But Kaye has heaped praise on Cohen for achieving worldwide success with the format, especially because he struggled to develop Pennis' personality.

He says, "He was definitely influenced by Pennis. The guy who I wrote Pennis with went on to work with Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays Ali G.

"To Sacha's credit, he got more out of it. I was struggling at the end, because there was no real personality to Pennis, he was just a mouthy gobs**te.

"Whereas Sacha worked out this whole world for Ali G, with his (girlfriend) JULIE and so on. Ali G took it to another level."