COMEDIAN Eddie Izzard visited Worcester in a blaze of excitement today - turning the High Street into a sea of red to delight hordes of startled Good Friday shoppers (we ran a live report on the event here).

The famous funnyman, who is touring the UK to back Labour for the General Election, took a dizzying walk around the city centre and was utterly swamped with mobile phone-wielding fans eager to grab 'selfie' style photos.

Mr Izzard took time to sup tea at Boston Tea Party in Broad Street, visited the Wicked Hair salon by the Elgar statue and even found time to jump aboard a wooden box, grab a microphone and address crowds of well-wishers with an off-the-cuff speech.

The visit brings home how vital the Worcester seat is at the General Election, with the comic saying he was in the city to send a powerful message to David Cameron.

"I joined the Labour Party in 1995 because I believe in fairness and the Labour Party is all about that," he said.

"It is great to be here and meet these people, if you've got a 25-year mortgage you do not pay it off in five years - this country finished paying off its Second World War debt in 2007."

During his trip he was besieged by fans, saying it was "the first time I've ever seen a selfie queue" in his life.

During his time in Wicked Hair he was quizzed about Labour's position on ditching zero hours contracts, and scores of shoppers stopped him to say they were big fans of his comedy.

While on the Labour makeshift 'soapbox' he also accused the Conservatives of wrongly blaming his party for the national debt, saying "the bankers caused it", and said "rich people have not had it tough" over the last five years compared to those at the bottom of the foodchain.

"I am radical-centrist in my views," he told your Worcester News.

"The biggest threat to this country under another Coalition (led by the Conservatives) is the NHS," he said.

He said Labour could win the election outright and called Councillor Joy Squires, the party's city parliamentary candidate "a fighter, someone with real personality".

The famous cross-dresser, who has a staggering 3.6 million followers on social networking site Twitter, also said he was pleased to be dressed in drag in Worcester, saying he wanted to stick up for "lesbian girls in the Midlands" who should be proud of who they are.

"Everyone should vote Labour if they believe in fairness - if slavery was still allowed the Conservatives would still be having it," he joked.

"We've got to get the Labour Party in, that's why I'm doing this - I volunteered to go around the country spreading that message."

During every passer-by who wanted to chat to him he asked "how are you voting" and generally had a good response.

Cllr Squires is trying to overturn Worcester MP Robin Walker's 2,982 majority next month, with Mr Izzard saying the Tories "don't do this (get comedians to campaign for them), they use money on big plush billboards".

Passer-by Louise Morris, of Fladbury, who grabbed a selfie, said: "I'm a big fan of his, I had no idea he was coming."

Shopper Paul Ronford, 31, of St John's, said: "As soon as I heard I was down here, he's so funny - he should be an MP."