NORTH-East comedians Vic Reeves' and Bob Mortimer's BBC show House Of Fools will not be returning for a third series.

The surreal sitcom - which was previously rumoured to be under threat last year - ran for two seasons and a Christmas special, but has now been axed for good.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "BBC Two and BBC Comedy would like to thank Vic, Bob, [producer] Lisa Clark and everyone else involved in making House Of Fools, but after two fantastically inventive series the show won't be returning."

Teesside born Mortimer, comedy partner of Reeves, who grew up in Darlington, made light of the news on Twitter.

Posting a picture of wig made of Wotsits he wrote: "FOR SALE House of Fools wotsit wig £8:00 #houseoffools"

There was previously speculation the show had been axed after the first series, which aired at the beginning of 2014 - sparking outrage from fans on Twitter.

Stephen Fry was among those who voiced their anger, but the show went on to return with a second series.

The bizarre sitcom featured the comedy duo sharing a house where they were visited by a string of crazy characters, including Bob's surly son Erik (Daniel Simonsen), seductive neighbour Julie (Morgana Robinson) and arrogant Beef, played by Toast Of London star Matt Berry.

The first series began with viewing figures of 1.27 million, but dropped to 700,000 by the end of the run.

Series two reportedly averaged one million viewers overall.