A Hollywood actor has given his backing to a struggling community post office and helped raise thousands of pounds for the cause.

Bill Nighy attended a fundraising event to support Felpham Post office near Bognor, which is at risk of closure.

The star of Love Actually and a string of other hits was interviewed by Lizzie Mickery from the Friends of Felpham CIC Save the Post Office Campaign and chatted about his career and life.

One ticket holder flew all the way from Finland for the event on Tuesday night to have the actor sign his Pirates Of The Caribbean poster. Nighy portrayed Davy Jones in the film.

Felpham Community College students Eloise Lyons, Libby Wood and Karina Natkinis opened the night with musical performances.

Villagers in Felpham set up the community interest company to raise money to buy the site as the current sub-postmaster announced plans to leave.

Lizzie said: “I’m a writer and I am working with Bill at the moment. I mentioned that we had just put on a show for the post office to save it and he said ‘I’ll come’.

“It was fantastic. He’s very supportive of the post office because he absolutely understands how essential they are to the wellbeing of a village. He has very kindly agreed to be a patron of the cause.”

Bill was also given the full Felpham experience as he visited the seafront and had fish and chips at The Fox Inn pub.

The Q&A night with him at St Mary’s Centre raised just under £5,000, which will go towards saving the post office from closure.

Lizzie said: “It will mean a lot. We are at a very crucial stage now as we are applying for a grant.

"We have raised £160,000 and have got through the first round of the application, but now we are at the very difficult second stage.”

The Friends of Felpham CIC are bidding for help from the Community Ownership Fund which comes from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.