Hardman actor Ray Winstone has revealed that he is an unlikely fan of sunbeds.

The film star, 58, told Conde Nast Traveller that he liked to give himself a tanned look before jetting off on holiday so that he could return home bronzed, without risking sun damage.

"As I've got older I like sitting down, as long as the bar's close," he said of his travels. "I've actually started reading books, or listening to them if I'm feeling really lazy."

The Sexy Beast star, who has a reputation as one of Britain's toughest actors, added: "I also find that if you have a couple of sunbeds before you go away, you stop yourself burning and come back looking like a local."

Winstone, whose favourite holiday destination is Sicily, also reminisced about meeting a shaman in Venezuela.

"His feathers were claret and blue, which are the West Ham colours, and he liked whisky.

"We conversed, I don't know how, seeing as I was talking Cockney and he was talking Venezuelan Indian, but we somehow understood one another and we just rabbited on. It was obviously the whisky," he said.

The actor said that he always packs a suit on his travels, adding: "You never know when you might need a nice whistle."

Asked to nominate an eighth wonder of the world, Winstone had a suggestion that was closer to home.

"The rock formation in my garden," he said.