TOP comedian Milton Jones and Scottish star Gary Faulds have been lined up for the first-ever Clyde Comedy Festival in Inverclyde.

Several local venues have teamed up with the council to launch a new celebration of stand-up from June 6-9.

Mock the Week regular Milton is among the headline acts with a show in a specially-constructed marquee at The Chartroom in Inverkip on Saturday 8.

Glasgow comic Gary Faulds is also returning to Inverclyde following a sell-out show at the Beacon Arts Centre in 2018.

Tickets for his other show at the venue in July this year are nearly gone so he has added another date at the waterfront theatre on Friday June 7 as part of the inaugural comedy festival.

The Albany and Fenwick 47 and Gourock's Cafe Continental have also signed up for the event.

Comedian Gary told the Tele: "It's nice to see comedy being appreciated as an art like this because it gets looked down on a lot. "Things like this are really supportive."

Also on the bill are: Jamie MacDonald, Chris Forbes and Rosco McClelland at the Cafe on Thursday June 6; John Gavin, Ross Leslie and Rob Kane at The Albany on Friday 7; and a special matinee performance of 'The Pieman Cometh', a dark comedy about Scottish football, at the Beacon on Sunday 9 followed by Greenock's own Jay Lafferty, husband Keir McAllister and Will Naameh in Fenwick 47 on West Blackhall Street in the evening.

Event organisers are encouraging other places to get involved.

A spokesman said: "Inverclyde has a host of fantastic venues across the area so it would be great to have more come in to host events. "At the moment we don't have an open mic night, which would be a great addition to the line-up."

The event is being supported by Inverclyde Council as part of its efforts to attract visitors - and honour the area's comedy links.

A local authority spokesman said: "In recent years events such as the powerboat event and the Gourock Games have been promoted outside of the area to encourage more visitors to visit Inverclyde to great success. "The idea of the comedy festival is to bring venues together to create an appetite for building a new festival for the Inverclyde calendar.

"It is appropriate that the festival is launched this year, because November would have been the 100th birthday of comedian Chic Murray, born in Greenock and widely recognised as the 'comedian's comedian'."

Tickets are on sale now from each of the participating venues.