Anthony Horowitz has revealed he almost gave up writing this year, after developing a serious eye condition that could potentially lead to blindness.

Mr Horowitz, 58, was advised by specialists to stop writing books, after untreatable cysts were discovered at the back of both of his eyes.

But after being told that his condition had nothing to do with reading or writing, the best-selling author decided he couldn’t abandon his career.

According to Mr Horowitz, it would have been a “ridiculous” decision.

“Writing is my life”, he says. “There is always the spectre of this getting worse. I could even go blind in one eye – but fortunately I have two eyes.”

Mr Horowitz has sold over 16m books in the English language alone in his 34-year-old career, most recently writing the Sherlock Holmes story House of Silk. His popular Alex Rider children’s spy series is now a successful film franchise.