THE uniqueness of Selby has been entertaining crowds at the Edinburgh Festival as one of its more unusual residents spreads the word across the UK.

Comedian Tim FitzHigham was appointed to the medieval post of “pittancer” of Selby five years ago.

In recognition of his work, the Brown Cow brewery, at Barlow, has brewed a porter ale called Pittancer’s Porter.

Tim’s unique role has been given a national airing as he describes it to his audience at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Tim said: “The show has been selling out and getting really good reviews. We’ve had a lot of people coming from Selby which is really nice as I do play the town hall in Selby and people have obviously seen me there and come up to see me here. I just tell the audience about the role of pittancer as it’s weird enough in itself. The pittancer has to arrive in Selby on Maundy Thursday to distribute eggs and cheese to Benedictine monks. That’s enough to get people laughing as it is.”

Tim said when he was going through his pittancer routine, someone in the audience – possibly from Selby – silently handed a bottle of the Pittancer’s Porter up to him while he was on stage.

Tim said: “It was the physical embodiment of the heckle.”

There are also plans to bring the ale to a new audience. Tim hopes to hold a comedy night soon in London where the bottled ale will be sold behind the bar.

He said: “It’s actually really good. I had some mates of mine over who drink a lot of beer. We all tasted it together and we all agreed we could drink an awful lot of it.”

Coun Steve Shaw-Wright said the town hall often staged top comedians and it was good Selby was getting national publicity.

He said: “It’s also good that Tim is promoting the beer down south and I look forward to exporting it there, where they could do with some good beer.”