BURY-born actor Antony Cotton is going head to head with Richard and Judy with a new teatime chat show.

Antony, a former pupil of Woodhey High School in Ramsbottom, will front an hour-long show combining celebrity chat and topical humour.

The Anthony Cotton Show will be ITV1's challenge to Channel 4's Richard and Judy when it airs next month. It will initially run for five weeks, airing at 5pm. But he will continue in his role on Coronation Street.

He said: "I love working on Coronation Street and producers have been kind enough to allow me to leave the cobbles earlier in the day to get into the studio next door to make the show.

"It's going to be gossipy, light-hearted, chatty and irreverent, but most of all fun, with lots of tea and cake."

The 31-year-old actor grew up in Greenmount and now lives in Edenfield.

He has previous experience presenting from when he worked on the Big Breakfast in 2001.