A bizarre plan to honour comic legend Spike Milligan by walking backwards has been rejected by the council in the Australian town where his family lived.

People living in Woy Woy planned a "backward parade" in tribute to a Milligan poem called Walking Backwards For Christmas.

The stunt was supposed to have been one of dozens of events during a ten-day Spikefest next month to remember the Goon Show star.

But council officials have abolished the parade on safety grounds. They fear anyone who got injured could land them with compensation claims.

However, organisers have come up with a compromise - people can walk normally but wear their clothes back-to-front.

Milligan, who died of liver failure at his village home near Rye aged 83, mercilessly joked about Woy Woy during his routines.

He said the eastern coastal town, made up mostly of retirees, was the "world's only above-ground cemetery".

In the Fifties, Milligan's parents and his brother Desmond moved to Woy Woy, about 50 miles north of Sydney.

The festival activities include a comedy writers' workshop and a local arts exhibition called Picasso According To Spike.

Woy Woy's community radio plans to broadcast six hours non-stop of The Goon Show, which Milligan launched with Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine.