‘I’m rushed off my feet!’ Alan Carr serves up laughs as he cuts ribbon on community cafe

Comedian Alan Carr has been dishing out more than punchlines after swapping the stage for a serving tray to help feed locals at a community cafe near his new home in the Scottish Borders.

The TV star joined volunteers at Ayton and District Parish Church to cut the ribbon on the weekly meets - just a stone's throw from the neighbouring castle.

And he wasted no time getting to meet the locals.

Holding a tray full of bread, Carr joked: “I’m rushed off my feet! Haven’t had a normal job for years.”

And locals lapped up the hospitality, with one stating: "Food was excellent today, and got to meet Alan Carr. What a down to earth guy. He even helped serve the food up."

In January, Disney+ announced a new series will follow Carr as he finds, buys and runs his “very own castle”.

It's being produced by the same company behind the hit series Clarkson's Farm.

And last month, we reported the Celebrity Traitors winner - who celebrated his 50th birthday in June - has submitted plans to turn a potting shed at Ayton Castle into a community cafe and estate shop.

“Oh well, I’ve fed the community here at Ayton," he said. "I am pooped!

"If this don’t get me a Pride of Britain award, nothing will. Carol, hit me up!”

The quip was a nod to his friend and host Carol Vorderman, who recently joined him for filming at Paxton House.

But behind the laughs, the cafe’s reopening comes as households face rising food and energy bills.

Founder Catherine Chisholm hopes offering hot food and drinks every Tuesday - between 3.30pm and 6.30pm - on a “pay-as-you-feel” basis will help ease pressure on local people.

Volunteers previously served more than 100 meals in a single night, and the cafe hopes to continue providing a welcoming place for people to come together as the darker nights draw in - including activities for children.

Catherine also hopes to bring back recipe bags with ingredients for low-energy cooking, alongside winter resilience packs containing essentials such as torches, batteries, candles and warm blankets.

However, the plans depend on securing funding.

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Catherine told Greatest Hits Radio: “The reason why we've had to start the community cafe again is really responding to what's going on in the world and how difficult it is for families and elderly people at the moment.

“With the increase of food, with fuel prices and energy prices, it's just our little way to respond, to make life a little bit easier.

“If we can feed people for one night it's releasing money in their pocket to say: 'I could put the heating on this evening'."

And she added: “The idea for the recipe bags is really two-fold, by providing another meal we are releasing money from their budget which then can be spent on other little extras, or for say for Christmas; or even save just to pop it away for some extra bills.

"But also they are designed to be cooked in a slow cooker or on the hob, which means that they are reducing their energy usage which then in turn obviously reduces their bill. So for people that take a bag it's just a win-win situation."

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