STARS of BBC comedy 'This Country', Daisy May and Charlie Cooper, will be switching on the Christmas lights in Cirencester this year. 

The sister-brother pair, who wrote and starred in the six-part TV series, will be joining the town's Advent Festival on Saturday, December 2.

Their comedy series explores the lives of two cousins from Northleach and it received nationwide acclaim with more than four million views. 

A second series has been commissioned by the BBC and it is being filmed locally.

Daisy May and Charlie have also recently been selected in the British Academy of Film and Arts’ 20 Breakthrough Brits and will be supported by the Academy over the coming year.

They said: "We are so excited and honoured to be asked to switch on the Christmas lights in our home town of Cirencester.

"We’ve only ever had two dreams in our life. One is to switch on the Christmas lights in Cirencester, and the other is to one day afford lunch at Made by Bob’s.”

This year’s Advent Festival will also feature the live premiere of ‘A Song for Cirencester’, written by the Barn Theatre's creative team.

The song will be sung and filmed on the evening, and then released as a charity single with all proceeds going to mental health charities Cotswold Counselling and Mind.

The event, organised by Cirencester Town Council, will take place on Saturday, December 2, 11am-9pm, with the lights switch on taking place from 6.30pm. There will be a Cotswold Fireworks display at 7pm.

People will also be able to enjoy the Advent Market from 11am to 7pm on December 2 and the Christmas Markets on Saturday, December 16 and Sunday 17, 10am-5pm. 

The markets have been named by Vogue this year as the fourth best Christmas Markets in the country.

The town centre will be closed to traffic from 9am to 9pm during the Advent Festival. More information can be found at: www.cirencester.gov.uk/christmas-in-cirencester

To get involved in the event, contact the Advent Team: info@cirencester.gov.uk or 01285 655 646