Counting the pennies was the last thing on Leslie Ash's mind when she hit the shops with husband Lee Chapman.

The couple took the chance to spend some quality time and money together in London's King's Road, just weeks after the former actress received a record £5m pay out from the NHS.

Arriving in the Chelsea shopping mecca in their black Maserati sports car, the couple walked slowly to a number of boutiques where they bought clothing.

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Big spenders: Leslie Ash and Lee Chapman went on a shopping trip in London yesterday, weeks after their bumper pay-out from the NHS

Ash managed a grim smile as she walked with a stick, a legacy of the shocking impact of her bout of MRSA which has left her out of work.

In January, the Men Behaving Badly star's huge payday was revealed after her lawyers sought compensation for loss of earnings following the effects of the hospital superbug.

The 47-year-old actress caught a strain of MRSA nearly four years ago at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

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Recovering: Leslie still walks with a stick, a legacy of the MRSA virus which ruined her career

Expensive taste: Leslie joins husband Lee Chapman in their Maserati sports car

She was partially paralysed for months and is still unable to walk properly.

Figures from the NHS Litigation Authority show that about £5million was paid out in damages in all cases involving hospital-acquired infections from 2002 to 2006.

Her solicitor Janice Gardner said at the time: "This is a substantial sum which reflects what Leslie has lost in her life due to contracting this infection.

"She was a very commercially bankable actress with an enormously successful career in television, but she has done very little since. Obviously she has been cut down in her prime.

"All she wants to say is that she is delighted that an agreement has been reached without the matter going to court.

"Now she can put all the stress and strain of the case behind her, although she will remain active in the campaign for cleaner hospitals."

Chapman was arrested on suspicion of assault in 2004 after Ash was admitted to hospital suffereing from broken ribs.

He later claimed her injuries were a result of an "energetic sex session" and was released without charge.