COMIC Ted Robbins says the future is bright ahead of his return to the airwaves this weekend.

The 59-year-old actor and presenter, from Crawshawbooth, had a heart attack in front of a sell-out crowd at the Manchester Area on January 31.

The star, who plays Den Perry in the cult Peter Kay comedy Phoenix Nights, was rushed to hospital and the performance was cancelled.

On Sunday, he will sit down behind a BBC Radio Lancashire microphone two stone lighter and brimming full of determination to help others battling heart problems.

Ted said: “It’s terrific to be around. Thanks to a combination of fate and destiny, it was not my time.

“I intend to keep going as long as I can and the prognosis is good. I’m very, very lucky.

“I plan to keep walking. I have lost a couple of stone but I wouldn’t recommend this as a diet plan.”

Ted said he would be supporting his colleagues at Radio Lancashire as they help teach vital CPR skills to residents across the area, and said he hoped to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

He said: “My aim and my dream is do a charity walk but I have not worked out the details yet.”

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Ted, who said he ‘died’ on the stage, said he had met the paramedic who saved his life after switching seats to be closer to the action.

But he said the man, who works for the ambulance service near Leeds, was keen to avoid any publicity.

He said: “There was also a doctor from Scotland. They do it for a living and don’t do it for some infamous character, but because somebody needed help.”

Yesterday, a unique Phoenix Nights souvenir from the record-breaking run at the Manchester Arena sold on eBay for £612.57 after receiving seven bids in a Comic Relief auction.

Chorley comedian Dave Spikey auctioned off the trademark white jacket his character Jerry St Clair wore throughout the run.

It had been signed by every member of the cast, including Peter Kay and Paddy McGuinness.

The stage version of the cult TV show sold out 16 nights at the venue this month as the cast were reunited for the first time in 12 years for Comic Relief.

But despite the stage show’s huge success, Ted said he has not heard anything about a potential return to the small screen.

He said: “I would like it to go on but I honestly don’t know.“It was a huge success and the people involved are very much involved in it.

“I would love it to return but who knows?”