PROLIFIC author Alexander McCall Smith, whose No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series has sold more than 20 million copies, delighted a packed audience when he called in to Devizes today.

Mr McCall Smith appeared at a sell-out event at St John's Church as a guest of the new community fundraising group Omnes ad Unum which translates to All for one, Devizes.

His visit to a tea party in the church will have raised around £1,000 for Wiltshire Air Ambulance and a similar amount for church funds.

Mr McCall Smith, who is on a whistle stop tour of towns in the south west, was not sure what county he was in but was still an admirer of the market town which he was visiting for the first time.

He said: "It looks like a lovely town with lots of history." He was particularly taken by the Saxon origins of the church where he enjoyed talking to more than 200 fans.

He explained that he often has several books on the go at any one time and often rises at 3am to start writing before going back to bed about 6am and then getting up again at 8am to start once more.

He said: "I really love writing. It isn't a hardship for me and I am quite good at keeping to deadlines."

He also enjoys touring the country for literary events. He said: "It is good for readers to be able to meet authors but it is equally important for us to meet our readers.

"I think the people who like my books are of quite a broad age range but there are definitely more woman than men but that seems to be true for most fiction. Women keep fiction sales alive."

His stories are gentle tales of life in Botswana or his home city of Edinburgh and a far cry from those of fellow Scottish authors Ian Rankin and Val McDerrmid whose gritty dramas have helped coin the phrase Tartan Noir.

But Rankin is a neighbour of McCall Smith and he has even been used as a character in his books.

He said: "I am a big fan of both Ian and Val. Edinburgh is a varied city and between us we show its different sides."

He has three books just out or about to be published including a new No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency title, an Isabel Dalhousie book and the first in a new series for children.

The former professor of medical law, who is married to a doctor and has two daughters and a grandson, says he is always on the lookout for new characters, so the people of Devizes could feature in the future.