MUCH loved comedian Jimmy Cricket came face to face with a sweet surprise on a recent theatre visit.

The ever popular Northern Irish comic, who has had a showbiz career spanning 50 years, paid a visit to Oswaldtwistle Civic Arts Centre in advance of a show he is doing there next month.

And Jimmy, whose real name is James Mulgrew, popped into see the ladies of Craft and Chat group who meet there.

And there’s more. The women happened to be doing a class on sugar crafting and they presented Jimmy with a sugar character of himself, complete with floppy hat and boots with ‘R’ and ‘L’ written on them.

Jimmy, 69, who lives in the Rochdale area, said: “The ladies, led by Julie Sharkey who was delivering the class were fantastic and it was a lovely surprise to see the figure.

“Just like the sugar character is doing, I gave it a big thumbs up.”

Jimmy Cricket: Great Value for a Tenner, is a family show on at the arts centre Saturday, February 21 with Jimmy saying he felt it important to make the show affordable to families.

He said: “It does what it says on the tin, just a tenner for adults and £2.50 for the kids.

“I’ve been working hard on my material and keeping it up to date and audiences can find out how Jimmy reacts to modern things like Facebook and Twitter.”

Jimmy’s career began in 1966 working as a Redcoat in Butlin’s holiday camp in Ireland, followed by two more summers at the Butlin’s in Clacton.

By the early 1970s he was living in Manchester and won LWT’s talent contest, Search For A Star, and in the 1980s he was given his own series And There’s More.

Jimmy has continued performing ever since and his latest tour comes fresh after appearing in the Snow White panto at Preston’s Charter Theatre.

Jimmy said he was excited about performing in East Lancashire.

“It’s going to be great in Oswaldtwistle and I’m looking forward to seeing the audience. I’m also playing the Ace Centre in Nelson in May which is another fantastic venue,” he said.