A BURY comedian is topping the bill for the first time at the age of 49!

And Mike Lancaster is also assisting Freddie Starr on the comeback trail by appearing with him on a new tour beginning in May.

Mike's plum booking as star of the show is for a summer season at Scarborough.

It will be a nostalgic romantic return to the seaside for Mike when he starts an 18-week stint at the Spa Theatre on May 28.

For it is the town where he started dating his wife Sacha when she was studying at university and Mike was in summer season with Bobby Davro.

Mike, from Nangreaves, said: "It is our 10th wedding anniversary this year so it is quite appropriate that I should be working in Scarborough again, and the first time I have ever topped the bill.

"Ideally, you want it to be sunny all day until 4pm, and then rain so they all dash in and see the shows!"

Before Mike tops the variety show, he will be taking his travel sickness pills when he embarks on a 21-day nationwide tour with Freddie Starr, starting on May 1, in Croydon and ending at Great Yarmouth on May 27.

Mike, a father-of-five, will be a guest star on the show which will take in venues stretching from the South East up to Scotland. His closest appearance to the North West will be at Llandudno on May 21.

Said Mike, who has worked with the controversial comic genius in the past: "This tour came out of blue. I can only think Freddie got a bit bored after not working for two years."