ONE might imagine that being King can be quite a stressful business, but when panto monarch David Alcock hangs up his crown after a hard night on stage at Bournemouth's Pavilion Theatre he heads for home and a peaceful and mega-green rural idyll deep in the Dorset countryside.

The South African born actor, whose run in Sleeping Beauty ends tomorrow, moved to his home near Bridport three years ago and says it offers a very different environment from his previous home in Stockwell, South. London.

"I was very happy there for a long time but there started to be a lot of needles around, prostitutes began setting up shop in the neighbourhood. There was a lot of crime and there were even shootings at the end of our road.

Together with his landlady, David says he began to think about moving out. "We didn't need it."

One of the features of their back garden in Stockwell had been a summer house that had provided a quiet retreat.

Arriving in Dorset they decided to create a similar little bolt-hole, only make it a little bigger and very environmentally sound.

So environmentally sound in fact it even features a grow-your-own roof.

"Everyone's become so eco-conscious that we were determined not to build anything that was going to damage the environment."

The resulting retreat is constructed on non-chemically treated wood, has floors and walls insulated with sheep's wool and roof is grown from sorghum - there are even plans for a self-composting toilet using worms to dispose of waste.

"It sounds pretty horrible but it really works," says David who describes his retreat, which has beautiful views but is camouflaged from the rest of the world by wisteria, grapevines and roses, as "the most glorious place to chill-out, play my piano and read."

He admits that after nearly 20 years in the capital moving to the depths of Dorset was a decision he didn't take lightly.

"The village has no post office, no shop, no pub and when you get to Dorset and think you're there you then have an extra leg of the journey get down to Bridport and then another to get to our village.

"I did wonder whether I was doing the right thing, whether I would be completely cut off from civilization, but now I realise that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

"As an actor one fears that by living out of London you are cutting yourself off from work.

"People have even asked me if I'm retired.

"But now I'm here I realise that one of the great things about being an actor is you can be based anywhere.

"This is simply a different way of living my life.

"It's lovely and I don't actually feel cut-off at all."