An Irish castle, said to be the location for Sir Paul McCartney's wedding, has been closed off by security guards amid new hints that the ceremony is to take place on Tuesday.

Castle Leslie in Co Monaghan, Ireland, is being beseiged by the media after rumours that the wedding of Sir Paul, 59, and former model Heather Mills, 34, would take place there on Thursday.

Security at the castle was tight on Thursday morning

Marquees are being set up in the grounds, lighting effects are being put in the trees and food has been arriving at the castle in the last few days.

The couple have kept the date and venue of the wedding a tight secret.

Sir John Leslie, 84, whose family owns Castle Leslie, suggested on Thursday to waiting reporters that the wedding would be on Tuesday.

"We are told vaguely it is next Tuesday like the papers say, but it is all secret, I have to keep it dead secret," he said.

"They might do something at the last minute or change it, you never know."

Castle Leslie usually hosts upmarket weddings

He said the former Beatle had already visited the castle. "He came here about a year or two ago just as a visitor - we take paying visitors - and he had a look around."

Media

A stream of vans and trucks has been observed passing through Glaslough village and entering Castle Leslie, near the Northern Irish border.

The media are now descending on the village, named earlier this week by New York Post columnist Cindy Adams.

Ms Adams said a reception there would follow a wedding at a nearby church on Tuesday.

'Wagging tongues'

A spokeswoman for Castle Leslie, which is set in 1,000 acres of parkland, had denied the suggestion.

Sir Paul was at the Party at the Palace on Monday

"It's not happening here - definitely not. There are wagging tongues," the spokeswoman told BBC News Online.

She insisted security and catering staff currently seen working around the castle could be explained by a product launch, the details of which would remain confidential.

Castle Leslie's owner, Sammie Leslie, added: "People come to us because of our discretion. We would never discuss who might or might not be clients."

'Haunt'

But Glaslough villager Martin Lappin, 48, said: "The word is that it will happen later today. There's an awful lot of activity around the hotel, with people going in and out. "

Other locations have also been touted for the wedding.

Mills also attended the Jubilee gig

Another New York Post columnist, Neil Travis, said the wedding would take place in the Hamptons on New York's Long Island on Thursday or at the weekend.

The columnist said it would be at the home of John Eastman, the brother of Sir Paul's late wife Linda.

There have also been rumours that the marriage would take place at Skibo Castle in Scotland, where Madonna and Guy Ritchie had their wedding reception last year.

There have been other press reports that friends and families of the couple have been told to keep their diaries clear from Thursday.

For his part, Sir Paul has said only that wedding preparations are "going fine".

Even his official spokesman insisted he did not know where it would be - and that he preferred it that way.

Sir Paul met Mills three years ago and they became engaged last July.