DJ Fat Tony has recalled in a new interview how he was once forced to sell his Banksy artwork in order “to pay my tax” bill.

Speaking in an interview with The Times, the DJ born Tony Marnoch was asked about “the most important lesson you have learnt about money”.

Fat Tony, who has been clean from drugs for 15 years, replied: “When I got clean, I wanted to go legit. It was daunting. I’d wake up at 2am, panicking about brown envelopes. By 7am I’d want to kill myself, because my head went to such extremes: ‘You’ve never paid tax, you’re going to prison, you’re gonna lose everything’.

“My friend recommended her accountant, who said: ‘We can sort this.’ The good thing about HMRC is, if you go to them and say, ‘Listen, this is what I’ve done,’ they like your honesty. It’s if you avoid them, you’re in trouble.”