ACTOR Brian Blessed has been appointed the Honorary Patron of Clitheroe’s Grand Theatre.

The 78-year-old star agreed to become the theatre’s ambassador after performing to a sold-out audience on Wednesday night.

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The big-voiced star said: “I’ve climbed Everest three times, walked across the Antarctic and because I’ve been in that rarefied atmosphere you do get a tremendous instinct for what is good.

“The first feeling I had about the Grand Theatre was trust. They are doing something special and it sparked my imagination.

“Art is everything, it is what keeps you alive and keeps a smile on God’s face.

“The Grand is encouraging art, music, and community involvement and all this amazing work.”

Blessed added: “It is an incredible honour for me to be patron, and I’m going to report this all over the world, what is happening in Clitheroe.”

One of the country’s best-loved actors, Blessed has starred in theatre, film and TV.

He revealed his first appearance at the Ribble Valley theatre satisfied a long-held ambition to visit Clitheroe since he first appeared in a 1960s police series.

“This really means something special, going back 50 years to when I was in Z Cars,” he said.

“In the programme, Sgt Percy Twentyman (Leonard Williams) was a great pal, and he’d do the voices for the Clitheroe Kid.

“Leonard would often go up to Clitheroe, and when he came back he’d wax lyrical about the people there, that they were the salt of the earth, kind and caring people.”

Blessed who was making his first public appearance since he was forced to withdraw from a production of King Lear after collapsing on stage in January, revealed he is to undergo heart surgery next week.

Steven Lancaster, The Grand’s executive director, said: “To have an actor of Brian Blessed’s great standing, a man who has performed at all the great theatres as patron is a wonderful privilege.”