Exclusive-Ecclestone denies arrest, says gun had no bullets

MONACO : Former Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone denied on Friday he had been arrested in Brazil and said an illegal gun found in his luggage before boarding a flight was never used and had no ammunition.

The 91-year-old Briton, now in Portugal, told Reuters a "silly, tiny little incident" had caused a lot of aggravation as he and his family tried to leave Sao Paulo by private plane on Wednesday night.

"I haven't had any publicity lately and I thought I ought to do something to get some," he joked in a telephone conversation.

Sao Paulo state public security office confirmed in a statement to Reuters on Thursday that a businessman was arrested for possession of a firearm at Campinas' airport, but did not name him directly..

"I was never arrested," said Ecclestone, who confirmed that he had to pay 6,060 reais ($1,260) bail before being allowed to leave.

"They wanted it in local currency which we never had," he added. "So there was another drama trying to find the money. I was leaving the country, I didn't have any local money.

"It was a bleeding drama, unnecessary, over a nothing."

Ecclestone said he had bought the handgun, a LW Seecamp .32, from a Formula One mechanic or tyre man in Brazil years ago without ammunition and purely as a deterrent.

"They said you need something like this," he explained. "It might work if someone tried to mug you or something. So I bought it from the guy.

"I had it in the house and used to muck around with it if people came to visit me or something, we would joke around," he added.

Ecclestone said he had left it in a shirt pocket and the people packing his luggage put it in a suitcase without being aware of the gun.

An airport scan then revealed the gun, which had not been registered.

"It was never