Women who find themselves a target of wolf whistling in the street should stop muttering about everyday sexism and take it as a compliment, according to Joanna Lumley.

The veteran model and Absolutely Fabulous actress has waded into the debate over relations between women and men as she argued that that too many people have become overly-PC "sensitive flowers".

"How can wolf whistling be offensive to women? It's a compliment," she told the Mirror newspaper.

"They're saying 'Cor you look all right, darlin'.' What's wrong with that?"

Lumley claimed that people were "tougher" when she first rose to fame in the 1960s, whereas people are "very offended by everything" nowadays.

"When I was modelling photographers were much ruder, they'd say 'You look frightful, what's the matter with you?' 'You look podgy, you look fat as a pig'," she recalled.

"It was good-natured banter, you kind of got on with it, it didn't upset you."

She spoke out as a growing number of women push back against what they say is persistent casual street harassment by men.

It's not the first time that Lumley has made controversial comments over the role women.

She has previously been criticised after suggesting that women who get drunk and wear the "wrong clothes" are inviting sexual assaults in 2013.

"Don't be sick in the gutter at midnight in a silly dress with no money to get a taxi home, because somebody will take advantage of you, either they'll rape you, or they'll knock you on the head or they'll rob you," she said,