Comic Billy Connolly has confessed he used pages of the Bible to make a roll-up cigarette - and joked that he may go to hell as a result.

The 68-year-old star revealed he and old friend Gerry Rafferty - the late chart-topping musician - resorted to the holy book after they ran out of "skins".

The pair, friends from their days on the Scottish folk scene, tore out pages from the Book of Revelations to concoct a ciggie in a remote spot.

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Connolly made his confession as he launched a forthcoming travel show for ITV1, in which he travels down America's famous Route 66 highway.

He described his visit to hear gospel music at a chapel in St Louis where a member of the congregation gave him a hug and offered him a Bible.

"The last time I held a Bible I was smoking it - it's true," he said.

Connolly said he and Baker Street singer Rafferty were in the north of Scotland, and - inspired by a prison film he had seen - Connolly decided to make up for a lack of cigarette papers by using a Bible.

"We were near John O'Groats, it isn't like 'skin-o-rama'. You ask for a skin and they give you a sheepskin.

"It was a drunk guy who put us up for the night and he was up in bed. And I said 'You wouldn't have a Bible?', and he says 'Yes, I do, would you like it?'.

"I said, 'Just a couple of pages...'. He said 'Any particular book?', and I don't know where it came from, I said 'Revelations'.

"My idea was to read a verse then smoke it. And I think I'm going to hell."

Billy Connolly's Route 66, in which he travels from Chicago to Santa Monica, will be on ITV1 next month.