Veteran film director and food critic Michael Winner may have his leg amputated after falling ill on holiday.

Winner, 71, is now being treated at The London Clinic, in Harley Street, after suffering an allergic reaction to medication given in Barbados for a fever.

It was reported he told doctors "I'd rather die than have it cut off", after medics said the amputation could be the only way to save him.

After being taken to the hospital in Barbados on January 3, Winner said: "I had an absolutely dreadful reaction to the antibiotic and came out in enormous blood blisters."

The director, known for his "Calm down dear, it's only a commercial" advert catchphrase, had a heart surgery in 1993.