Comedian Harry Hill has gone nuts.

The double Bafta-winning presenter of You’ve Been Framed, who grew up in Staplehurst, has shelled out to produce his own brand of peanuts and cashew nuts under the Fairtrade banner.

He said: “Most people think I’m nuts but actually I love eating them, one reason I brought out my own range called Harry’s Nuts.”

He said the non-profit making venture involving farmers in Malawi is backed by Comic Relief and the Fairtrade nut company, Liberation, which is run to benefit farmers and their families.

Harry, who went to the Staplehurst Primary School, Angley School, and Cranbrook School before studying to be a doctor, said: “Last year I visited the peanut farmers in Malawi who supply some of the nuts and I saw first-hand some of the benefits that come with Fairtrade, like a shelter built to protect the relatives of patients at the local hospital. They had nowhere to be protected from the elements after walking many, many miles to be close to their loved ones and help look after them.”

The nuts have just gone on sale at Sainsbury’s and Waitrose with other outlets coming up.

Mr Hill added: “I’ve been heavily involved in getting the taste right for the nuts and with the pack design.

“I want to do for peanuts what Paul Newman did for salad dressing. If only he’d worn glasses and bigger collars people would have seen the likeness.”