A Polish town has invited John Cleese to judge a special silly walks competition organised in his honour.

The Monty Python comedian is enjoying new found fame in the country as the star of a new advert on Polish TV for local bank BZ WBK.

It features him trying to persuade the bank to let him open an account – and claiming that though he has no Polish address his aunt came from the town of Pcim.

Cleese has already agreed to promote the town of Pcim by letting it use his image on billboards, and now the town’s mayor has invited him to a summer festival and invited him to judge a silly walks competition.

Daniel Obajtek, Pcim mayor, said: “We have asked him to come and are waiting for his reply. We have set up billboards with Cleese’s picture on the roads into the village and we plan to make this a huge event.”

The mayor had originally been angry when he saw the advert on TV and said: “Thanks to Cleese everyone wants to laugh at our town and nobody wants to hear about our achievements.

“The name of our town is coming out of the mouth of someone who has made a joke of everything, his whole life.”

But he was reportedly persuaded to change his opinion after an advertising agency said the town could benefit from linking itself with the comedy star.

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