Britt Ekland needs little introduction - so with the world her stage, why is she sprinkling Hollywood glamour along with plenty of fairy dust on a pantomime in the area? Juliette Kemp finds out.

SWEDISH beauty and international star Britt Ekland doesn't know too much about Herefordshire - but a quick rundown of its gourmet delights and specialities which will be within reach and easy shopping distance when she pays her first visit to the area, certainly whets her appetite.

"Cider doesn't thrill me that much," she goes on to admit when told about the county's famous alcoholic beverage, "but I have girls who love cider so I shall undoubtedly buy them some.

"I have been brought up on good plain food but Stockholm has the best food in the world so I have been stuffing myself since I got back.

"When you are on the road you don't eat well."

So Herefordshire's culinary delights are indeed something to look forward to for Britt, who will be on the road again to Worcester, where she is due to play Fairy Kindheart at the Swan Theatre's pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk.

Speaking from her home in Stockholm, from where she was enjoying some time off after just completing a six-month tour of the UK in Just Desserts, Britt explained that the chance to do pantomime in Worcester was one which she couldn't refuse.

"I wasn't going to do one because I'd been touring for so long and I'd promised my youngest son, who's 17, that I would spend Thanksgiving in LA, on November 27, and then we would go to Sweden for Christmas," she explains.

"He comes here every summer and has done since the day he was born but he's never spent Christmas in Sweden.

"I promised him that and also felt I'd worked so much that I really needed to take a couple of months off but then my agent called me and told me about this lovely theatre in Worcester - and I couldn't say no!"

It's no surprise, of course that former Bond-girl Britt is taking on the role of the beautiful fairy, but the Scandinavian - who is probably Sweden's other best known export alongside Abba - is a true veteran of pantomime, that most British of theatre traditions.

But has she wanted to tackle some of the more villainous roles?

"I have played just about every panto there is going, including Mother Goose, which is not traditional panto, and I loved playing the Wicked Queen but at that point my son was very young and he hated the audience booing me," she reveals.

"Even though children know you're an actress, they don't always see it. A mother is a mother and he didn't like that so I went back to fairies."

"I like fairies," she continues. "With fairies you can be flippant, you can be yourself, you can be naughty - you can be all of these things."

It goes without saying that the announcement of the Hollywood actress's arrival in Worcester has caused quite a stir across the two counties.

Britt has starred in more than 30 feature films alongside such Hollywood names as Peter Sellers (After the Fox), Roger Moore (The Man with the Golden Gun), Michael Caine (Get Carter) and and Yul Brynner (The Double Man) as well as appearing in countless television appearances around the world including mini-series, specials, variety shows and many comedy shows including Absolutely Fabulous and Noel's House Party.

But for those who are asking why a lady who leads such a jet-setting, glamorous international lifestyle chooses to spend the festive season in Worcester, which, with all its charms is not exactly a rich man's playground, Britt's answer is simple and down to earth.

"I was offered a job in Worcester. I'm an actress and ultimately that's what I do, I act," she states.

"Whether it's in Worcester, London, or wherever it doesn't matter. I go where the work is.

With homes in Los Angeles, Stockholm and London - a situation she admits to finding "unsettling" and confesses to a desire for just one home - Britt accepts that she lives a truly international life.

"I probably do more jet setting than most people in that I go across the Atlantic so many times, but I don't see myself as being any different from any other actress," she stresses.

"If there's an opportunity to work then I take it.

"Ninety per cent of all British actors are out of work so if I'm among the lucky 10% that work, then I should thank God and get on with it.

"If people think it's strange that I'm working that's sad.

"It reflects badly on society when you think that because of someone's name or what they are perceived as, they shouldn't be working like other people."

So, it's a pantomime in Worcester, with potential shopping trips to Herefordshire thrown in for Brit this Christmas and she's looking forward to it.

"Pantomime is the one thing I absolutely love," she enthuses.

"You get into town and the whole town is decked out for you.

"It's beautiful, it's light, there's Christmas markets and beautiful windows and, even though there's a lot of push and shove with last-minute shopping, people are generally very friendly and very happy that you're there and I hope people are going to be very happy that I'm in Worcester."

Britt is due to appear in Jack and the Beanstalk from December 7 until December 28.