Rafe Spall has joked that his children have been ''absolute b******s'' during lockdown.

The 37-year-old actor has been quarantining at home with wife Elize du Toit, 40, and their three kids during the Covid-19 pandemic but Rafe admitted homeschooling the children has been ''really difficult''.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: ''They can be absolute b******s and make it really difficult for you - it's difficult, really difficult. You've just got to keep patient - and bite your tongue.

''You've got to take your kids to school. I have been wiping bums for nine years. If you don't have things that keep you grounded it is easy to lose yourself. My youngest is four so we are through it.''

And Rafe joked he has turned to alcohol to help him cope.

The actor said: ''That has been my lockdown. Reading every newspaper constantly, home schooling my children and a tonne of booze.

''I miss sitting in traffic jams and getting on the tube. The mundane things like that. I have been booking restaurants for the end of summer.''

Meanwhile, Rafe is currently starring in the BBC Two drama 'The Salisbury Poisonings' alongside Anne Marie Duff.

The three-part series tells the story of the 2018 Novichok poisonings, which saw Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for the UK's intelligence services, and his daughter Yulia Skripal poisoned by the nerve agent.

The story follows the aftermath and how the local community dealt with the events and the writers spoke with real-life members of the town for accuracy.