A taxi driver tried to blackmail a 28-year-old actress after discovering sexual footage of her stored on a cellphone she had forgotten in his cab, police said yesterday.

The 30-year-old cabbie allegedly called a magazine to try and sell the footage but the reporter he spoke to traced the woman and warned her. The 28-year-old subsequently called the taxi driver, pretending to be a reporter, to negotiate the purchase of the material, and was asked for 1,500 euros. Police then sent an undercover female officer to meet with the cabbie. The 30-year-old was arrested while receiving 1,500 euros in pre-marked bills.

Officers found in his possession the woman’s cellphone and his own mobile, to which he had allegedly copied some of the footage.

The cabbie told police he had resorted to blackmail due to “serious financial difficulties.”