The 'late' Jason Manford . . . but will the drinks be on him in Telford tonight?

That's because the comic bought everybody in the audience at his show in Lincoln on Saturday night a drink after arriving on stage 40 minutes behind schedule.

The Stockport showman picked up a £3,530 bar bill as an apology for keeping people waiting.

Manford was playing his second consecutive sell-out night at the Engine Shed in Lincoln and reportedly got stuck in traffic for two hours on the A628 between Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire.

He tweeted a picture of the bar receipt with a message which read:

Manford will be making his second appearance in Shropshire tonight with his First World Problems Tour.

The 8pm show has sold out at The Place Theatre in Oakengates.

Debbie King, theatre manager, said: "We've had a couple of tickets released from the promoters so we're going down our waiting list but it is a sold out show.

"We're hopefully going to arrange with him a second date, so those people who couldn't get tickets may still have the chance to come and see him.

"We're definitely looking forward to having him here, we've wanted to get him here for quite some time and it is sold out so he is really popular.

"It should be an excellent show."

She added that she hoped Mr Manford would be be on time for tonight's show and wouldn't have any need to buy the Telford audience drinks.

"We haven't bought any extra beer," she said. "Hopefully he will be on time, but if he isn't there should be enough drinks to go around."

Manford also appeared at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury on February 19 and 20 to a sell-out crowd.

He was not available to comment today but tweeted to his 63,000 followers:

And he later tweeted his response to the headline on this story: