FRANKIE Boyle brought the house down in Greenock during a sell-out Christmas cracker of a show that has raised £18,000 for charity.

The funnyman headlined a comedy gala night at Greenock Town Hall on Friday night in aid of Ardgowan Hospice.

He went down a storm, as did top trio Gary Little, Scott Gibson and compere Hardeep Singh Kohli, who were also on the bill.

The show was a complete sell-out, with over 800 people packed into the town hall on the ground floor and in the balconies.

They all helped raise an amazing £18,000 for the charity. The event was arranged by Greenock actor Martin Compston, who is a patron of the hospice.

The Wee Man star currently has commitments in Los Angeles and says he was ‘gutted’ to miss the show. But he praised everyone who turned up on the night, as well as the comedians and volunteers.

Martin said: “Unreal night’s work with £18,000 going to the hospice from a comedy night. I definitely want to make this an annual event.

“I want to thank everybody involved, especially volunteers from the hospice and West College Scotland students, everyone who bought tickets and donated money and of course to all the comedians.

“It was an outstanding effort.”

Compere Hardeep Singh Kohli, who met hospice chief executive Anne Mills, took to Twitter after the gig and said ‘Greenock, full of friendly folk’ and ‘what a beautiful crowd’.

Co-star Scott Gibson added: “Greenock you were fantastic tonight. Thank you for having me on.”

Local DJ, promoter and college lecturer Andrew ‘McD’ McDermid helped organise the event and is thrilled with how it went. He said: “Frankie went down a storm, but all the comedians were great. Everybody went away happy and the event ran smoothly.”

McD also paid tribute to music student volunteers from the West College Scotland Greenock campus who kindly gave up their free time to help out on the night.

The event followed on from a benefit concert at the same venue 12 months ago, headlined by The View.