Far from paparazzi, Brigitte Bardot marks 80th birthday

French screen siren Brigitte Bardot celebrated her 80th birthday in private on Sunday at her French Riviera home, shunning the spotlight and turning attention back to her beloved animal rights work, France 24 reported.

For her birthday, the ageing sex symbol "didn't want anything at all," journalist and writer Henry-Jean Servat, a close friend, has told AFP.

Rather than gifts, the ex-movie star turned animal rights defender went on Europe 1 radio and asked her fans "to go to the nearest animal shelter and adopt a little cat or dog, or sponsor it" and also "to eat less meat."

Still, outside her house in Saint Tropez, admirers left some 250 bouquets of flowers, according to Servat.

Inside, Bardot spent her low-key birthday with some members of her animal rights foundation, a few friends and her husband Bernard d'Ormale.

The foundation gave her as a birthday present a special edition of the magazine she edits with best wishes from celebrities and from animal rights associations she has helped.

Read more on the France 24 website.