Mistaken identity brought to book

WHAT a small world - although at times one is inclined to think it is a bit too small.

Such a moment came over our recent item suggesting that Charlotte Bingham the author and Charlotte Rampling the actress (and wife of Jean-Michel Jarre) were one and the same - a statement that had Colonel Howard Bentley-Marchant spluttering into his cornflakes.

The colonel and his wife Liz should know. For they are neighbours of the novelist Bingham in Somerset, in the southwest of England. The colonel, who has been based in Hong Kong since last May, serves with the British Forces.

Said he: ''Our neighbour will be fascinated to learn she is married to Jean Michel Jarre. Charlotte Bingham is Charlotte Bingham, as her husband Terence Brady will surely confirm.'' All we can add (apart from the time-honoured ''oops'') is that there is a very red-faced literary agent around town.

Incidentally, Bingham's new novel Change Of Heart will be published by Transworld/Doubleday on June 30.

Meanwhile, actress Rampling will be arriving in Hong Kong later this week to catch her husband's concert.