Royle Family star Ricky Tomlinson set to undergo heart surgery

The 68-year-old star of The Royle Family will have an angioplasty to unblock his arteries on Friday.

The operation takes place at the specialist cardiothoracic centre at Liverpool's Broadgreen Hospital, where ex-Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier underwent 11 hours of open heart surgery in 2001.

Today, Tomlinson launched an awareness campaign to encourage one million men to check their heart health and help avoid the need for surgery.

Lloydspharmacy is offering free checks to males in an attempt to combat the rise in heart disease.

The diagnosis has come as a shock to the actor, despite his acknowledgment of an unhealthy lifestyle.

Tomlinson insisted on taking a carrier bag full of supermarket beer to celebrity events and confessed to having plenty in common with his slovenly screen character Jim Royle.

But he said: "I only went to see the GP for a skin condition. My wife Rita told the doctor I had been a bit short of breath but I would not have mentioned it if she had not been there.

"I was sent to hospital for a scan and saw a wonderful cardiologist, who told me I had blocked arteries.

"Now I am taking more exercise and am on a stricter diet. I have cut down on salt, stopped taking sugar, cut out that extra pint and now make very few visits to the local chip shop."

He added if his condition worsened after the operation, he faced having a triple heart bypass in the future.

"Checking your heart health is so vitally important," Tomlinson said at the launch of One Million Man Challenge.

"I know lots of men, me included, aren't keen on getting checked out but a simple heart check takes a few minutes and really could detect early signs of heart disease.

"I'm keen to get a million men having their hearts checked out so they shouldn't have to go through what I've got to go through with the surgery."

Tomlinson was an activist in the 1970s, when he was jailed for two years for being part of a gang of flying pickets campaigning on behalf of miners and dockers.

He saw a reverse in his fortunes after replying to a newspaper advertisement asking for actors and went on to win roles as Bobby Grant in the soap opera Brookside, DCI Wise in ITV's Cracker and Jim Royle in BBC's The Royle Family.

He also secured an £800,000 autobiography deal.

Despite his success, Tomlinson remained resolutely down-to-earth, taking his own kettle with him because "you can never be sure with these fancy hotels."