French film star Gerard Depardieu gets caught short in a plane

French film star Gerard Depardieu stood up and urinated in the aisle of a packed flight because the plane's toilets were closed.

The drunk 63-year-old actor called out 'I need to p***, I need to p***' as the flight from Paris to Dublin was preparing for take-off on Tuesday evening. But cabin crew told him that because the plane was taxiing to the runway he would have to wait until they were airborne and the seat-belts signs had been turned off.

So instead, the star of Jean de Florette and Green Card stood up, unzipped his flies and relieved himself in the cabin - to the horror of fellow passengers. The Air France flight - operated by Ireland's City Jet - then returned to the stand and was delayed for two hours while it was cleaned.

A shocked woman passenger told France's Europe 1 radio: 'Mr Depardieu who was clearly drunk called out to cabin crew repeatedly that he 'needed to p***' as the plane was heading to the runway. 'An air hostess told him he's had to wait 15 minutes until we were in the air and he could leave his seat. 'She told him there was nothing she could do until then and that he would have to hold it in.

'But he replied that he couldn't wait, then he just stood up and urinated on the floor.'
Air France refused to comment on the incident today. And it was not clear if Depardieu was allowed to remain on the flight when it eventually took off.

The actor was voted France's third most irritating celebrity in a 2010 poll. He came behind First Lady Carla Bruni and film star Alain Delon. Depardieu himself admitted earlier this year that he could 'often behave like a complete a***hole' in public.