Nobel Prize winner Sir Paul Nurse plans to buy a better motorbike with some of his £214,000 award.

The Imperial Cancer Research Fund director general has revealed that he has asked an Oxford bike dealer to look out for a suitable machine, which he will use to commute to his job in London.

Sir Paul, of Woodstock Road, Oxford, is already a motorbike enthusiast, but is keen to upgrade from a 300cc bike to a 500cc model.

The scientist divides his time between running the cancer charity and working on his own research, but insists his work does not automatically make him an "anorak".

He said: "I know it's the male menopause but I do love my Kawasaki motorbike.

"I'm planning to buy an even bigger one with my prize money. Like most blokes, I enjoy an adrenaline buzz."

"People always think of scientists as being robotic anoraks, but it's entirely the reverse.

"What we do is very creative and we get all the emotional stuff that comes with that."

Sir Paul will not buy a new machine and says he hopes to find a suitable secondhand model.

It was announced last week that Sir Paul had won the Nobel Prize for medicine because of his work on cell division, which has helped advance research in the fight against cancer.