A woman who has 70 per cent of her body covered by tattoos has revealed that she has been ignored at work and gets followed round shops by security guards.

Sarah Hutchinson, 29, an actress from Ancoats, Manchester, says that she gets typecast as a criminal or homeless person when it comes to roles. 

Known by fans as Joey, she has been told by colleagues that the artwork which covers her arms and legs is intimidating, leading people to assume that she is 'mean'.

Ms Hutchinson, who starred in ITV's The Cabin, got her first tattoo - '4ever in my heart' on her wrist when she was 15 - and reckons she has spent around £7,000 on body art since.

Speaking about an incident that occurred in a supermarket where she was being pursued by a security guard, Sarah said: 'I was in Marks & Spencer at summertime, wearing shorts and a top.

A woman who has 70 per cent of her body covered by tattoos has revealed that she has lost work and gets followed round shops by security guards

Sarah Hutchinson, 29, an actress from Ancoats, Manchester, says that she gets typecast as a criminal or homeless person

Ms Hutchinson, who starred in ITV 's The Cabin, got her first tattoo - '4ever in my heart' on her wrist when she was 15 - and reckons she has spent around £7,000 on tattoos since

'I was walking round, trying to find something for lunch, when my girlfriend said that the security guard was following me.

'I purposely walked round the aisles to see if he was - and he was. I said to him: "I will steal something if you keep watching me".

'I'm really used to it - sometimes I'm oblivious to it and it's my partner that points it out.

'It sounds mad in this day and age but I get stared at pretty much everywhere I go.

'I'm not stealing - I'll swing the bag and show them I'm not stealing.'

Sarah, who also works as a personal trainer and musician, says her hand tattoos of a star, a moon and the word 'why' are her biggest regret.

Posing an even bigger problem are an ex's name tattooed on the underside of her her wedding ring finger, which she says is too painful to remove, but adds that her girlfriend will not marry her while it's still there.

Sarah estimates that repairing or removing some of the unwanted work could cost her around £1,500. 

Following the enormous amount of body art she has opted for in the past, Sarah advised anyone wanting a tattoo to never book an artist who costs less than £350 per day

She also recommends waiting at least three months after you have picked a design to get it inked

Drawing on her own experience, Sarah advises anyone wanting a tattoo to never book an artist who costs less than £350 per day.

She also recommends waiting at least three months after you have picked a design to get it inked, to ensure that you are happy with what you have chosen.

She added that she has been stereotyped by work colleagues and given the same acting roles because she has so many tattoos. 

Sarah continued: 'Everyone has this perception that I'm mean. People I met at work have told me they didn't speak to me for a really long time because they said I looked intimidating.

'I always get cast as the homeless person. I'm typecast as a criminal - I only get really c**p things because of my tattoos.

'I think they're still associated with bad behaviour, and being stupid or idiotic - people pair that with criminal.

Despite having some tattoos she has had to cover up because she regrets them, such as a list of five friends' names that she got on a night out, she said there are some pieces of body art she is happy with. 

She added that she has been stereotyped by work colleagues and given the same acting roles because she has so many tattoos

Sarah, who also works as a personal trainer and musician, says her hand tattoos of a star, a moon and the word 'why' are her biggest regret

Her other tattoos include sea-themed tattoos, including a bottle with the words 'Not all who wander are lost', and ancient Egyptian murals which she says she does not regret.

She explained: 'I have a moon and a star, and next to that I have the word 'why'. I ask 'why' I did it.

'Now I'm booked in for blacked out skeleton fingers so it will be the image of the bone through the finger because that's the only tattoo that will cover it.'

She added: 'I have a lot of shoddy work. I went to cheap people and so I have a lot of [poorly done] artwork on me that I'm getting fixed.'