Nigel Mansell takes on minder as shortcut to security, The Times - 17th February 2009

Nigel Mansell exercises his new bodyguard – a three-year-old German shepherd named Geisha that cost £15,000.

The animal, a "personal protection dog", was bought after the former champion racing driver clashed with youths who were using the grounds of his home as a shortcut to the beach. Geisha came from a security company that has provided anxious celebrities and millionaires with similar dogs over the past ten years.

The highly trained dogs are particularly popular in the US where the wealthy will pay up to $65,000 for a fully trained animal. The company says that there has been a 20 per cent rise in demand for the dogs in Britain over the past few months, with German shepherds and Dobermann pinschers as the most popular breeds.

Mansell, 56, said: "I spent years surrounded by true professionals in the motor racing industry, and Geisha is no different. She too is at the top of her game."