Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s political party, Forza Italia, was created after secret talks between the Mafia and the state, a Godfather’s son has claimed.

Police informer Massimo Ciancimino, whose father was mayor of Palermo on the Mafia’s island stronghold of Sicily, made the sensational claim as he gave evidence in a court case.

‘My father told me that Forza Italia was the result of so-called talks between the government and Cosa Nostra,’ he said.

He showed the court a note supposedly written by the Mafia superboss to Berlusconi’s long-time aide, Marcello Dell’Utri.