Keith Richards got so out of his mind on tour with the Rolling Stones he was flown to another country while still in bed.

The guitarist, 80, who slipped into heroin abuse at the height of the band’s fame – but has now kicked drugs, drink and smoking – was in such a deep sleep after a drug binge the group’s roadies were forced to carry him onto the band’s private jet while he was still resting.

Celebrity publicist Alan Edwards said about the incident in his new memoir ‘I Was There’: “The tour manager couldn’t wake Keith up in a hotel room to fly to the next country.

“So roadies carried the bed, with Keith sleeping in it, out of the hotel, loaded it on to the plane then hauled it off when the plane touched down again.

“Keith woke up in another hotel room in another country without having stirred.

“There were none of the normal constraints in terms of when or where the plane departed – the Stones were travelling on their own 747 jet.”

Keith celebrated his 80th birthday in December with far more civilised partying.

He went on safari over Christmas in South Africa with his wife Patti Hansen, who he married in 1983, to mark becoming an octogenarian on 18 December.

He posted alongside an image of himself grinning while wearing a jacket in the colours of the South African flag during the trek: “Thank you for your birthday wishes! Merry Christmas from South Africa.”

A source told The Sun ahead of the father-of-five’s trip: “Keith isn’t afraid of wild beasts and loves seeing them roaming in the wild.

“It’s been a dream to do a big holiday with all his family at a luxury resort in Africa and have that once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience all together.

“He turns the big 8-0 in December and he’s hoping to get out before then and live it up in the sunshine and then spend Christmas with his family.”