Tom Courtenay says he has found a new lease of life at 81 after having surgery to correct the colour blindness he never knew he had.

The actor was having tests ahead of a cataract operation when a doctor informed him that he could not see colour properly - the result of childhood scarlet fever.

The condition was rectified “and now I can’t shut up about it,” Courtenay said. “I bought a brown T-shirt in Glasgow a while ago, and now I’ve realised it’s plum!

“It’s incredible, really. I’ve got all this colour in my life.”

True colour blindness is rare, according to the NHS, and the majority of people who described themselves as such have what doctors term colour vision deficiency - difficulty distinguishing between certain colours.

It is usually inherited and present at birth, but in some cases it can be caused by a health condition.