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Taz is retired now, but his varied working career took him not only to jobs as an engineer within the steel and heavy industry but also as a redcoat and bluecoat at Butlin’s and Pontins holiday camps.

As a singer, comedian and guitar player, he was even part of a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London during the 1970s.

He also played a key role in the move of photographic film giants Kodak to Annesley in 1980, working for them for 20 years after moving to Sutton from Nuneaton, where he grew up.

Sutton grandad Taz Towers -- engineer, Butlin's redcoat, Pontins bluecoat, Kodak key worker, singer, comedian, karate teacher and now author.

And there will be many a black belt in the Ashfield and Mansfield area familiar with Taz because he was a distinguished karate instructor for 35 years.

But now he has turned his hand to something completely different, releasing his first book, ‘The Ship Called The Pharaoh’, which is already attracting rave reviews on Amazon.

“It has been in the making on my computer for about ten years,” said Taz, who is also an ardent motorbike enthusiast.

"I first wrote it as a screenplay for TV or film. But that is such a difficult path to go down, so I opted for a novel.”

'The Ship They Called The Pharaoh', a debut novel by Sutton man Taz Towers, 73.

And, he warns, “it is a fairly hot book – extremely violent and highly sexual, although always within the parameters of the storyline.

"One person who’s read it told me it was a cross between ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’!”

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The gripping story is set between 1946 and 1961 and follows the lives of two young sisters who are forced to emigrate from England to Australia. They travel in pursuit of a better life but are soon confronted by harsh realities.

Among Taz's many interests is mixing with the motorbiking fraternity in the Mansfield and Ashfield area. He has owned a bike since the age of 16.

Taz, who has three daughters and seven grandchildren, admits he might have caught the writing bug and has already penned the first third of a follow-up book.

But he says he’s unlikely to suffer from delusions of grandeur if it makes him famous. “I probably wouldn’t move any further than Skegby!” he quipped.

Published by Austin Macauley, ‘The Ship Called The Pharaoh’ is available in WH Smith, Foyles and Waterstones book shops, as well as Amazon.

Colourful Sutton character Taz releases 'hot' debut novel at the age of 73