CHURCHGOERS were left rolling in the aisles when their place of worship played host to a very special guest speaker - TV funnyman Bobby Ball.

Oldham lad Bobby -- one half of smash hit duo Cannon and Ball -- spent a full day at Bolton Pentecostal Church on Bury New Road, spreading the good word...with a cheeky grin.

Bobby, a devout Christian, had agreed to visit the church after a Christian meeting at the Reebok Stadium last year, and spoke to both family groups and a purely adult audience.

Church administrator Lesley Hargreaves said the day saw more than 700 people turn up to hear Bobby speak.

"It was absolutely fantastic," she said. "Bobby is a very funny man and he started by talking about how he started off in show business and then about his faith and Christianity in general.

"It was pretty inspirational stuff and I think it touched a lot of people who were there."

She added: "Bobby tailored his material differently for the family audience. Most of the children did not know who he was but they took him to their hearts.

"It's fair to say that we had quite a few people coming to the church that had not been before."

While Bobby himself explained his preaching philosophy to the BEN by saying: "It's good to laugh in church. God gave us laughter and Christians have got the most to smile about."

And thanks to the funnyman's visit Chorley's Derian House Hospice now has more than 700 reasons to be grateful.

"We wanted to control the number of people turning up because we are not a theatre," said Mrs Hargreaves. "So we charged a nominal fee of £1 to people coming in.

"All the money was sent to Derian House and some people gave more than £1 when they heard it was for a good cause. To have raised more than £700 for them is great news."

CHEQUE MATES: Comic Bobby Ball celebrates his fundraising sideline for Derian House with Bolton Pentecostal Church administrator Lesley Hargreaves and hospice support worker Margaret Morris.

ROCK OF AGES TOMMY: Bobby Ball joins the congregation in song at Bolton Pentecostal Church with church pastoral assistant Mary Walker, minister Derek Smith and senior minister Ian Watson.