Cyrano de Bergerac star Gerard Depardieu was not allowed to continue on his journey from Paris to Dublin on board a CityJet flight after he reportedly urinated in the plane’s aisle. The Green Card actor apparently failed to comply with a request by cabin crew that he remain in his seat until after the flight had completed take off.

According to one of the other passengers, who described the situation on French radio, Mr Depardieu declared to other travellers ‘Je veux pisser’, before standing up and attempting to urinate into a drinks bottle. He is also said to have urinated on the aisle.

His offer to help clean up was declined and the aircraft returned to the Charles de Gaulle terminal where he disembarked. According to Mr Depardieu the incident had nothing to do with alcohol. He said that he had been eager to use the aircraft facilities because, before boarding, he had drunk a large amount of water.

The Air France subsidiary has confirmed that flight AF5010 did not take off as scheduled because one of the people on board had not remained in his seat as the pilot was making final preparations for take off. Having offloaded Mr Depardieu the plane continued its journey to Dublin.

Mr Depardieu was due to fly into Ireland to join other actors and crew currently working on the latest Asterix film. Shooting will take place in a number of locations including Wicklow, County Louth and County Clare. The actor’s agent said Mr Depardieu was declining to make a statement.