IT is 40 years since Bolton’s own “singing milkman” officially swapped delivering pints for a career in showbiz.

Frankie Whittle’s career “properly” began at the age of 20, when he signed up to be one of the legendary Butlins redcoats.

But the entertainer had been performing from the age of four when he toured with his parents, playing clubs around Bolton.

His first performance was a rendition of “She wears red feathers and a hula hula skirt” at Gilnow Road Sunday School.

“I used to be in a family show with my mum, my dad and my sister, The Whittle Family,” says Frankie.

He then went on to be a familiar face on the amateur theatre scene in Bolton, taking part in productions by the Sweetloves and Bolton Amateur Operatic societies.

“Someone said: ‘Why don’t you go and be a redcoat at Butlins?’ So off I went. It was excellent, the best years of my life."

Read this interview in full in The Bolton News today.