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Bangor farmer tells superstar Rihanna to 'cover up'

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DUP Alderman Alan Graham: "I felt things were getting inappropriate"

A farmer who allowed one of the world's best-selling pop stars to film in his grain field told her to cover up after she stripped down for a video.

Local councillor Alan Graham said he was fetching his tractor when he saw her and thought it was unacceptable.

The Rude Boy star was filming a new pop video in his Bangor field.

"I thought it was inappropriate. I requested them to stop and they did," he explained.

"I had my conversation with Rihanna and I hope she understands where I'm coming from. We shook hands," he said.

Mr Graham is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the largest political party in Northern Ireland and one which is traditionally conservative in its views.

He admitted that he did not know who the 23-year-old sex symbol was when he got a phone call to ask for the use of his field in Bangor, County Down, for a pop video last week.

"I didn't know who was coming. If the name 'Rihanna' had been mentioned, well, no disrespect but it wouldn't have meant anything," he explained.

Rihanna, one of the most successful pop performers in the world, came to film in the alderman's Bangor grain field on Monday.

She pulled up in a white caravan on the A2 dual carriageway.

Traffic practically ground to a halt near Ballyrobert as drivers strained to get a glimpse of the singer and her cavalcade.

But the DUP man said it was still his field and he wasn't happy with what she was doing.

"From my point of view, it was my land, I have an ethos and I felt it was inappropriate.

"I wish no ill will against Rihanna and her friends. Perhaps they could acquaint themselves with a greater God," he said.

Hundreds of people also gathered by the roadside to watch the impromptu performance with many local school children using their camera phones to record the event for posterity.

The Barbadian first came to prominence in her homeland and the United States before achieving worldwide fame with her 2007 hit, Umbrella.