A five-time BAFTA award-winning comedian and actor, from Blackburn, has been recognised by a Lancashire university.

Steve Pemberton, best known for co-creating, co-writing and acting in the hugely popular The League of Gentlemen received an honorary fellowship from the University of Central Lancashire.

The proud Lancastrian, who was raised in Chorley, also co-created and starred in dark comedies Inside No. 9 and Psychoville, both broadcast on the BBC.

Steve, who was recognised for his significant contribution to acting, writing and directing, took to the graduation stage on Friday, July 12.

The comedian, who gained laughs in his acceptance speech for delivering the line “the University of Central Lancashire is a local university for local people” in the character voice of Tubbs Tattsyrup, said: “For me to be here in Preston, coming to get honorary fellowship in my local university, makes me really proud.

“I know about the university, I've got a lot of family here so I'm really proud to be coming back home as it’s a local boy made good.”

He offered a few words of advice to the graduates and said: “One of the best pieces of advice I was given was to think of it as a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t worry, especially in the arts, if you’re not making it straight away.

“You’re going to have a long career ahead of you. Some people will spend longer setting the bedrock of their career and other people will be successful early on, but you’ve got to have resilience.”

Steve and his long-time collaborator Reece Shearsmith co-created, co-wrote and co-acted the surreal British comedy horror sitcom The League of Gentlemen, in the late 1990s.

The programme premiered on BBC Two in 1999 and ran for three series until 2002. It was followed by a film in 2005 called The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse. The show, set in a fictional northern town, was a fans’ favourite so returned for three special episodes in 2017.

The ambassador for Derian House Children’s Hospice also co-wrote and starred in the dark comedies Psychoville, which ran for two series between 2009 and 2011, and Inside No. 9, which was first broadcast in 2014. The show’s latest series aired on BBC in Spring.

He has appeared in a range of huge television dramas and comedies, including Doctor Who, Happy Valley, Killing Eve, Benidorm, Whitechapel and Blackpool.

He is also set to appear alongside Greg Davies in the third series of BBC show The Cleaner.

Sharon Rooney (Barbie), Ben Willbond (Ghosts), and Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones) are also part of the new line-up.

Most recently Steve was a contestant in the current series of the popular Channel 4 comedy programme Taskmaster, which was broadcast in the spring.