Oscar-winning Lincolnshire-born actor Jim Broadbent has called for more research into Alzheimer's.

The 60-year-old, who was born in Wickenby, near Wragby, has challenged the Government to take urgent action on dementia research.

Film buffs will remember Broadbent's Oscar-winning 2001 performance in Iris, in which he played John Bayley, husband and carer to Alzheimer's sufferer Iris Murdoch.

And following his address at the Alzheimer's Research Trust's 10th annual conference in London this week, Broadbent spoke to the cameras about his own family's struggle when his mum was diagnosed with dementia.

"One night she appeared in the middle of the night in her night clothes with a pair of tights on her head and holding a brick saying 'when are we leaving?'," he said.

"Obviously there had been some slip in her reality and we weren't at all emotionally prepared.

"We were shocked and particularly worried about her, how frightened she was going to be and what the prognosis was."

Last month the Government announced a five-year dementia strategy for England in response to a rising number of cases.

An estimated 9,640 Lincolnshire residents have dementia and this is expected to rise to 15,698 by 2021.

The strategy is largely based on creating memory clinics in every town and was criticised by the Alzheimer's Society for having too little an emphasis on research.

Marie Holt, manager of the Lincoln and district branch of the Alzheimer's Society, said: "We are disappointed that there has always been a lack of money going into the research."

For more on Jim Broadbent's experiences, see Saturday's Echo.