'Er indoors enters the lexicon

ARTHUR DALEY's wife has landed herself a place in the Oxford English Dictionary. ' 'Er Indoors', the character who plays a significant part in the ITV television show Minder without ever being seen, is to appear in the next edition.

A spokesman for the show said: 'Arthur is delighted with the success of 'Er Indoors and it just shows what a wonderful idea it was in the first place when we started the series to have a character like that. She's never been seen and she never will be, but she is always lurking in the background.'

Arthur, played by George Cole in the long-running comedy drama series, is a second-hand car dealer out to make easy money from unsuspecting buyers.

The Cockney character has launched a whole series of nicknames and rhyming slang phrases, which have turned the show into 'a nice little earner'.

The dictionary definition for 'Er Indoors will simply be 'wife', and not a spouse who is neither seen nor heard.