Aldington resident Paul O’Grady has told how he swallowed a lump of cannabis at a Thai airport to avoid jail.

The incident is just one of the surprising new revelations Mr O’Grady shares in his new book ‘Open the Cage, Murphy’, extracts of which have been published by the Mirror.

The 60-year-old TV presenter, best known for his character Lily Savage, has always been frank and up-front about his hectic past.

Now, in his candid fourth book, he reveals he once washed down a stash of cannabis with a can of coke before he was clocked by Thai airport guards.

Shortly before his TV career took off in 1992, he had been travelling to Australia with his late partner, Brendan Murphy, who discovered he had a lump of the drug in his pocket.

Because of Thailand’s tough anti-drug laws, he feared they would both land themselves in prison.

The comic wrote: "‘You bloody fool,’ I said, as I saw to my horror two armed guards walking towards us. There was no sign of a bin and the guards were getting closer.

"There was only one thing for it. Taking it off him I popped it in my mouth and washed it down with the can of Coke I was holding."

He then admits that he flew to Australia "blissfully out of my mind" and adding that it felt "euphoric."

Open the Cage, Murphy also visits Mr O’Grady’s rise to fame as Lily Savage on the gay club scene, with shocking stories from his time working at the infamous Madame Jojo’s drag club in Soho.

He also writes emotional accounts of losing close friends to Aids in an era when it was met with harsh prejudice.