FIFE-born artist Jack Vettriano has claimed that leaving Edinburgh, the city which spurned his art, has saved him.

The painter said that his recent move to London had given him a new lease of life after becoming disillusioned with life in the Scottish capital. The 65-year-old said after he injured himself in a fall in 2014, he spent most of his time drinking, taking anti-depressants and watching daytime television while trying to recover.

He described the period which he spent in his New Town mansion as an all-time low in his life.

“I somehow thought that my body would heal itself.

“As I’d never had an accident before I didn’t realise you have to work at helping your body to recover,” he said. Now, after a decade in Edinburgh, he has recently put the townhouse on the market for £1.6 million and has moved down to London.

He said: “Every day I get up at 5am and go cycling around Battersea Park. I’m at work in the studio most days at 6am.”

He added: “It was more than 25 years ago that I had last lived in Edinburgh and a lot has changed.

“I used to love walking around all the vintage shops and charity shops of the Grassmarket, but they are no longer around. I missed that and, without sounding arrogant, I always felt I was being watched.

“I’m so much lower down the pecking order here for paparazzi in London that I don’t get bothered at all.”

A former mining engineer and bingo caller, Vettriano also spoke to the Scots magazine about his rejection from Edinburgh College of Art, saying the snub spurred him on.