HE'S been a lazy beer-swilling lout, a bumbling village doctor in Cornwall and has now taken to investigating the history of man's best friend - and his fans clearly love him.

Martin Clunes was charm itself as he turned up for a special book-signing event in Basingstoke.

Hundreds of fans of Martin's many characters packed into Porchester Square in Festival Place on Friday evening to meet the man himself and get their copy of his latest book A Dog's Life, in which he aims to discover where dogs came from and how they evolved into the loyal companions and working dogs of today.

Passing shoppers stopped to snap the celebrated actor on their mobile phones and shouts of "Gary", from the star's Men Behaving Badly days, were heard across the busy shopping centre.

And despite being about half-an-hour late due to traffic on the M3, Martin was certainly a hit with his fans at the event - organised by Waterstone's in Festival Place.

Jessica Rushton was first to meet the star, after queuing for an hour-and-a-half.

The 20-year-old nursery nurse, from Alresford, said she was a big fan of all his work, and added: "He was lovely, really apologetic about being late and very easy to talk to."

Slightly further back in the queue was the Horne family, who were back in Basingstoke visiting relatives after emigrating to Australia in 2001.

Mum Saffron Horne said: "We didn't know this was on until today, but it's been really exciting for the children and I quite enjoyed meeting him too!"

And 10-year-old Lauren Wiltshire, from Kempshott, Basingstoke, who came to the event with her mum Wendy, said: "I really like Doc Martin, so I said hello doc' when I met him and he laughed."

Martin spent time talking to each and every person who had queued so patiently to meet him and definitely made up for his slightly late arrival.

And autograph hunters haven't got long to wait for the next celebrity signing session as Gloria Hunniford will be at Waterstone's in Festival Place, signing copies of her new book Always With You, this evening from 6pm to 7pm.