THE future King of England astonished revellers with his down-to-earth attitude when he arrived unannounced among the revellers at a Bournemouth nightclub.

Prince William, who recently moved into the officers' mess at Bovington Army Camp, was spotted partying at Elements in the early hours of Friday morning.

William, who arrived at the venue with a group of army buddies just after midnight spent time dancing on the podium and drinking Stella, leaving only when the club closed at around 3.20am, according to witnesses.

The prince happily posed for mobile phone snaps with several woman revellers during his time at the club, said staff.

Despite being offered the use of the VIP area by managers he opted to stay and mix with the locals, said Elements spokesman Leigh Strathearn.

As people texted and phoned their friends to let them know who was in the club, numbers swelled by another 100 people, he added.

Images and video footage of William dancing on the podium are said to have been captured on dozens of mobile phones.

Leigh said: "Prince William was down there with a number of military friends of his. He was also flanked by security.

"He arrived there at about midnight and stayed until the venue closed at around 3.20am. He was drinking pints of Stella and was up on the podium dancing.

"He was offered the VIP area but didn't want that - he just mixed with all the locals. People must have texted their friends to say Get down here' because at 12.30am a lot of people turned up saying Is Prince William really here?' "The manager spoke to him and said Is it your first time at Elements?' and he said Yes'. Obviously he's welcome back any time. We were very excited to have him in there. He was very obliging and very normal."

Last April William was spotted by drinkers in Poole when he dropped into The Quay for a few bottles of J2O.

The Royal pin-up, who was in the area for a week-long army sailing course, arrived with a 20-strong group, all wearing badges from the Joint Services Adventurous Training Centre in Gosport where the prince's sailing course was based.

And last August Prince Harry was seen playing blackjack and roulette with friends at Stanley's Casino in Yelverton Road, Bournemouth.