NORTH-EAST comedian Sarah Millican has been announced as the guest headliner at the opening night of a comedy festival in the region.

She will perform at the gala opening night of Darlington Comedy Festival, at the town’s Civic Theatre next week.

Ms Millican, who is originally from South Shields, has appeared on panel shows including Eight out of Ten Cats and Have I Got News For You, as well as having her own series.

Event host Hilarity Bites is expecting to raise as much as £10,000 for local charities at the gala, ahead of the month-long festival that will bring a range of acts from the UK and other parts of the world, to the North East.

Festival director Neil Jollie said: "We are unbelievably happy with the line-up that we've got on the night.

“In Sarah Millican we have the biggest selling female comedian of all time, but more than that, we have a local act that has been extremely supportive of us over the past few years.

"I think this is a brilliant way to mark the fifth birthday of Hilarity Bites as we welcome some old comedy friends, some new acts and also provide a great range of content, including shows for under 16s and free shows to hopefully give new audiences the opportunity to experience live comedy."

The comedy festival will run throughout July, across several venues including Darlington Civic Theatre, Inside Out, the Arts Centre and The Forum.

As well as Ms Millican, other acts booked for the gala event include Chris Ramsey, Jason Cook and Pete Firman, star of BBC show ‘The Magicians’.

In all, more than 50 stand ups will take part in 21 shows during the festival, with more than 5,000 visitors expected to attend from across the region.

Alongside some of the best known British performers, the festival includes acts from as far afield as Canada, New Zealand and the US.

The opening performance, at 7.30pm, on Monday, will raise funds for Daisy Chain, Butterwick Hospice Care, St Teresa's Hospice and Darlington Association on Disability.

Tickets are priced from £18 to £22.50.

To book, or for more information, visit darlingtoncomedyfestival.co.uk or follow @DarloComedyFest on Twitter.