When Larry Lamb volunteered to go to Senegal to publicise the plight of some of the world's poorest children, he steeled himself for heartbreaking scenes of deprivation.

The EastEnders and Gavin and Stacey star knew, too, that he would be well out of his comfort zone: not only can't he bear to be parted from his two young daughters, he also abhors 'creepy crawlies'.

But it's what came after the trip earlier this year that's had the most devastating effect. For shortly after returning home, Larry went down with a debilitating fever; it lasted a month but worse was to follow.

The infection reached his ears and as a result he is now deaf in one of them. And it is, he admits, his own fault.

Read more at the Mail Online.