Mr Chu, 59, who is married with two sons, resigned on Monday after pictures of him with the woman hit newspaper headlines.

The woman, who identified herself as Coco, said she was sent by a mamasan to a private club where Mr Chu was spending the evening.

When she got there, there were already four other girls with him and his male friend, she said. She claimed in an interview with Eastweek magazine that Mr Chu immediately took a fancy to her and they began to chat intimately.

She said he agreed to foot the HK$3,000 bill for her to do a striptease. She proceeded to take off her jacket to reveal a skin-tight black outfit with a plunging neckline almost down to the navel, The Standard quoted her as saying.

The escort, who says she is 20, then stripped for the chief of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). She used a curly brown wig in her act.

The total bill for her services last Thursday night was HK$10,000. Mr Chu had also asked to take her out at a price of HK$6,000.

The pair left the building at Causeway Bay arm in arm at about 10pm and were photographed by reporters covering a concert nearby.

Pictures of the RTHK chief ducking behind Coco were splashed across major Chinese newspapers here the next day.