RIVER City actor Maurice Roeves is taking on a new challenge - buying his first motorbike at the age of 70.

The veteran actor said he was "in love with speed" and had been desperate for a fast bike for more than 50 years.

But he had resisted temptation because he almost killed himself on one when he was a teenager.

Maurice has recently been involved in some of the BBC1 Scotland soap's most violent ever scenes.

He starred as crazed character Robert Henderson who held Shirley (actress Barbara Rafferty) hostage and threatened her young charge Nicky.

However, away from the world of TV soaps, Maurice has reignited his passion for speed while filming new American movie Fast Track: No Limits.

The movie, due out next year, features a group of fast and furious drivers who live for the thrill of racing around Berlin.

Maurice gets to ride a powerful Harley Davidson bike in his role as a chief mechanic.

He said: "I have always fancied a motorbike but I stayed off because I was in love with speed. I behaved stupidly on a motorbike when I was about 18 and doing my national service.

"I was on a stretch outside our camp and a farmer had a 1000 Norton, which was a really fast bike. He said he would take me on the back of his.

"The next thing I was standing up on the back and screaming at him faster, faster'.

"He pulled in and made me get off. He said don't ever buy a motorbike because you'll kill yourself'.

"He was dead right. It was such a lethal weapon that I just thought I shouldn't get one.

"However, I can still get a bike, and I'm thinking about taking lessons. I think I'm now old enough not to speed too much."