Veteran Comedian Roy Hudd gave a helping hand to an Oxford shop's campaign for the release of two comedians jailed for joking about the Burmese government.

The entertainer and his wife, Debbie, popped into the Body Shop in High Street, Oxford, to make their marks on a thumb-print petition.

All the thumb prints collected by customers will be made into a huge picture to campaign for the release of comedians U Pa Pa Lay and U Lu Zaw, who are serving seven-year jail sentences in Burma.

Dinny Pagan, a former song and dance girl, who owns the franchise for Oxford's Bodyshop said: "With Roy being a comedian and a mate of mine, he decided to give us a bit of publicity."

She said that Roy's radio show the News Huddlines often took a swipe at the Government and the Royal family.

"In another country it could be regarded as a political threat," she said.

The Amnesty International campaign on behalf of the two prisoners is being backed by Bodyshop branches all over Britain.

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