AN actor has turned entrepreneur and launched his own board game based on the search for fame and fortune.

David McGranaghan was awarded two grants to help him turn his idea of a fame-themed board game into reality.

The 25-year-old of Woodford Green releases Game For Fame online on Wednesday.

He and fellow actor friend Joseph Pitcher were working together at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds in 2007 when they decided to invent a game.

Mr McGranaghan, who originally hails from Ayrshire and now lives in Woodford Close opposite Woodford Tube station, said: "We were doing a show on stage at night so had a lot of free time in the day.

"We were playing board games to kill time but we decided they were all a bit boring.

"We started thinking we could make our own and it was a bit of a joke at first but then it became quite a serious proposal."

Mr McGranaghan, who is currently starring in a Sleeping Beauty panto in Liverpool, has worked mainly on stage and with the likes of Helen Fielding, Sheridan Smith and Ian McDiarmid.

Earlier this year he worked with pop star Lily Allen in developing the new Bridget Jones musical - which is destined for the West End next year.

He has put his showbusiness experience to use in the making of the board game, which has the tagline “Race from rags to riches and end up in stitches”.

Players fight for fame and fortune against their friends and family, racing from 'on the dole' at the start with the multimillionaire at the end declared the winner.

"It is a celebration of the celebrity obsession but we are taking the mickey out of it," Mr McGranaghan said.

Last year he won the Shell Young Entrepreneur Award and he gained further funding for the project from the East London Small Business Centre.

Order the game from www.gameforfame.co.uk from December 8.