Jeffrey Archer has been swapping his prison meals for fast food after stopping off at restaurants in a Lincolnshire village.

The disgraced peer has visited a Chinese restaurant and a traditional fish and chip shop in Ruskington.

The former MP for Louth has served 12 months of a four-year prison term for lying in court.

Archer visited the restaurants on his way back to his prison near Boston, where he must return each evening after working at a theatre in Lincoln.

Fish supper

He once left his bag in Elite Fish and Chips in the High Street and had to return the next day to collect it.

Staff at the chip shop had to call staff at the Home Office to ask them to let Archer know he had left his bag by the counter.

The 62-year-old ordered haddock and chips wrapped in newspaper at about 1730 BST on Tuesday, and was only in the shop a couple of minutes while he waited for his supper.

Lord Archer is allowed to drive his own BMW

Owner Adrian Tweedale said: "After he placed his order, he asked my dad for directions back to the A17.

"He then left without his plastic bag. We contacted the Home Office who must have told Lord Archer.

"He came back to collect it last night and thanked us for hanging on to it."

Archer was later seen forgoing his prison dinner yet again, to grab a Chinese meal from a nearby takeaway.

Sunday visits

The multi-millionaire novelist spent his first day working on community projects with staff at the Theatre Royal in Lincoln on Monday.

He is allowed out five days a week from North Sea Camp Prison in Lincolnshire to work in the theatre, but must return to jail by 1900 BST and spend every night there.

He will also be allowed out on some Sundays to visit his family home in Cambridgeshire.

Archer was sentenced last July after being found guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice at a libel trial against the Daily Star over allegations about his private life.