Next week Berlusconi will start his community service duty

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said yesterday he would start doing community service with the elderly next week, as part of a one-year tax fraud sentence.

He is one of Italy's richest men, but he must spend four hours a week in a Catholic old people's home on the outskirts of Milan.

After completing the first six months, Berlusconi's one-year sentence will automatically be reduced to 10 and a half months.

The 77-year old media tycoon went at a judicial office in Milan to sign documents related to the ruling. "Everything's fine", he told reporters.

He didn't want to give a precise date for the start of his community service duty, but simply said it would be next week.

He is allowed to travel to Rome weekly and his political activity is not restricted.

Following a tax fraud conviction last year that was upheld by Italy's supreme court, Berlusconi was stripped of his seat in the Italian Senate and barred from holding public office for two years.

But he is still the most influential politician on Italy's center-right, as leader of the Forza Italia party.

Asked whether the community service could hinder his electoral campaign for next month's European Parliament election, Berlusconi said: "I hope not".