Comedy festival comes a cropper

A British comedy festival has hit disaster, cancelling most of its shows and Losing It headliner to illness.

Workington, in Cumbria, planned three nights of comedy this weekend - but poor ticket sales meant two of the shows had to be pulled.

The axed shows featured Phoenix Nights star Janice Connolly in character as Mrs Barbara Nice, and juggler Steve Rawlings' Edinburgh show.

And Jimmy Carr(pictured), who was due to close the festival at the town's Carnegie Theatre tonight, dropped out because of illness. His place has been taken by former Perrier winner Tommy Tiernan.

Heidi Mavir, of producers Cyclops Events, said: "It is a great shame that Jimmy Carr has been taken ill but we are delighted that Tommy has stepped in to replace him. We challenge anyone to be disappointed by this last-minute replacement."

The only event to escape unscathed was The Funnies, an awards ceremony honouring the country's funniest professionals - such as teachers, police officers and undertakers.

Published: 6 Sep 2003