Veteran rocker Tom Waits shuns air travel since increased security measures were introduced after the 9/11 attacks, because he hates emptying his pockets.

The Downtown Train singer insists on carrying countless essential items in his clothing wherever he goes, and he got so tired of pouring out his possessions at airport checkpoints, he decided to travel by road whenever possible.

Waits tells The Sunday Times Magazine, "I've been driving a lot lately. I don't like to take planes because I have too many things in my pockets and it's too confusing in the airports. I have a lot of things in my pockets they disagree with in security."

Aviation chiefs drafted in stricter search procedures and banned various objects from passengers' carry-on luggage after terrorists hijacked four planes and killed almost 3,000 people in co-ordinated attacks on the U.S. on 11 September, 2001.