League of Gentlemen’s Reece Shearsmith gets a local honour for local people

The actor, a former Bretton Hall College student, has been given the accolade by tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire.

He will follow Yorkshire ambassadors including sir Patrick Stewart and Barbara Taylor Bradford in promoting the county’s attractions around the world.

As part of comedy sketch group The League of Gentleman, Hull-born Reece played Edward Tattsyrup, a shop owner in the fictional village Royston Vasey who does not approve of outsiders.

Reece said: “I’m very proud to be named a Yorkshire Patron. My family still live in Hull and I retain strong links with the area.

“From the origins of The League of Gentlemen through to being given an honorary degree from the University of Hull last year, Yorkshire’s played a big role in my career.”

Reece formed The League of Gentlemen Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and co-writer Jeremy Dyson.

The group scooped a Perrier at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1997, before making a BBC Radio 4 series.

They were then commissioned to make a BBC Two series, scooping a BAFTA, Royal Television Award and the Golden Rose of Montreux.

He went on to write and star in BBC Two’s Psychoville with Steve Pemberton and more recently they created the BBC Two series Inside No.9.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “It’s a genuine pleasure to recognise Reece’s achievements and his proud promotion of his home county in the process.”