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A top secret document has come to light which sheds a fascinating new light on Adolf Hitler.

The Fuhrer’s daily routine in his final days was recorded by a German officer, who kept a diary in the bunker, and then spilled the beans to a British agent.

It outlines Hitler’s terrible table manners, “uncouth behaviour”, cake-scoffing and flatulence problem.

The intimate profile of the Nazi leader – dated three days after his death in 1945 – says on the front: “This must be destroyed within 48 hours.” But the British agent who received it hid the papers at his home in the West Country.

The entries say: “Hitler eats rapidly, mechanically, for him food is merely an indispensable means of subsistence…

“It is strictly forbidden to smoke in his presence as he seems to be very susceptible to laryngitis. He talks in a mellow baritone, without that raucous, unpleasant stridency of his public speeches.

“At the table and in his speech he shows many facets of rather uncouth behaviour. He abstractedly bites his fingernails… and his table manners are little short of shocking.”

One entry reveals that Hitler “ate prodigious amounts of cake” which caused “a slight digestive disorder”. Another says: “The rumours about his homosexuality were rumours and nothing more.”

The document, which resurfaced in a house clearance, is set to fetch £1,000 at an auction at Ludlow in Shropshire, on March 5.

Auctioneer Richard Westwood-Brookes calls it “potentially unique, given that it should have been destroyed”.