Darth Vader was on the dark side of rail inspectors today – but insisted that a row over an unpaid train ticket in the Midlands was a “misunderstanding”.

The right-hand man of the Galactic Emperor was named and shamed at Telford Central station on a list of people fined for fare-dodging.

He is in fact Star Wars fan Mark Nokes, 41, of Walsall, who changed his name by deed poll to raise cash for charity nearly 10 years ago, but kept it ever since.

Darth, a doorman at the Pink Flamingo bar in Wolverhampton, who lives in Miner Street with wife Sue Vader, said people often looked in disbelief when he told them what his name was. And he believes it contributed to his run-in with train inspectors.

He said: “It was in March last year, I was working at the Palisades in Birmingham as a security guard and Sue called me to say she was having an asthma attack and needed to go to hospital. I wanted to get home as quickly as possible and when I got to the station the train was in, so I jumped on it hoping to buy a ticket when I got on there.

“When I told the inspectors my name they thought I was taking the mickey and refused to take my money. It’s ended up costing me more than £300 going through the courts.”