CHART-TOPPER Tony Christie is heading for Emmerdale rather than the Texas town of Amarillo.

The Seventies crooner is to appear as himself in an episode of the television soap this summer.

He follows stars including cricketer Ian Botham, rugby's Martin Offiah and pop's Marti Pellow, who have all guested in the series.

Christie is riding high in the charts again with (Is This The Way To) Amarillo, thanks to a video featuring comedian Peter Kay.

The 61-year-old singer will perform a duet with Diane (Elizabeth Estensen), who meets him while on a trip to Newcastle for the Top Pub Chef of the North contest.

Yorkshire-born Christie said: "I've always been a fan of Emmerdale and am very excited about appearing in the show.

"My mum is more impressed that I will be on Emmerdale than she is with my number one single."

An Emmerdale spokeswoman said: "Tony will be performing one of his songs and will cause a stir by inviting Diane to join him on stage."

The episode will be filmed in July and shown in August.

Thirty-four years after it was first released, the single (Is This The Way To) Amarillo, in aid of Comic Relief, has stormed to the top of the charts.

It sold 40,000 copies on its first day, more than the rest of the top 40 combined.

The video features Kay, who had a guest role in Coronation Street, miming to the singalong classic backed by celebrities including Ronnie Corbett and Coronation Street's Ken and Deirdre.

Kay revived the song by using it at the start of his stand-up gigs and featured it in his Channel 4 series Phoenix Nights.