A host of well-known TV comedians will perform at some of Chester's most iconic venues as part of a brand-new comedy festival this summer.

Comics including Paul Sinha from The Chase, Mock The Week's Jo Caulfield and Chester-born funnyman Jeff Green will all be performing sets at the inaugural CH1 Chester BID Comedy Festival in July.

Paul Sinha from The Chase will perform at Chester's new comedy festival this year

It will feature 11 stand up shows with 26 comedians performing in 16 venues across the city over eight days between Sunday, July 1 and Sunday, July 8.

The Chester Grosvenor will play host to Paul Sinha, Jo Caulfield will appear at the Macdonald New Blossoms Hotel and Jeff Green will be performing his critically acclaimed show '30' at Chester Town Hall.

Robin Ince, Glenn Wool, Tom Wrigglesworth, Archie Kelly, and Gary Delaney are just some of the other big name stand-up acts set to appear at the event.

Jo Caulfield will perform at a new Chester Comedy Festival this summer

CH1 ChesterBID organisers, who have teamed up with the organisers of the Southport Comedy Festival to create the celebration of comedy, plan to establish the festival as an annual fixture in Chester's events calendar.

Carl Critchlow, BID manager, said: "We're incredibly excited to announce the launch of the first CH1 Chester Comedy Festival this year with a strong line-up of famous TV comedians heading to the city to perform at some of our most iconic locations.

Chester born comedian Jeff Green will perform at a new comedy festival in Chester this year

"We really wanted to create this festival to give people something new to enjoy and another reason to come and spend time in the city centre this summer.

"The evening economy in Chester continues to go from strength-to-strength and earning Purple Flag status earlier this year has really underlined that. We're proud of that achievement but it's important we build on it and continue to offer people a range of evening entertainment to choose from.

"We think the CH1 Chester Comedy Festival will be a big hit with local people as well as city visitors, so we're really looking forward to seeing it all get underway with the first stand-up act on Sunday, July 1."

Tickets start at £8. To see the full line-up or to book tickets for any of the shows or comedy crawls, visit www.ch1chestercomedyfestival.com