HE HAS starred as the East End villain who threatened to feed his enemies to the pigs, but now actor Alan Ford will be on hand for the far less messy task of hosting a prize draw at a pub night.

Organisers have enlisted the actor's help in rounding off a Primrose Hill pub crawl on Saturday (November 29), in a bid to raise the profile of their local boozers, at a time when many traditional pubs are under threat. 

Entry forms will be available from 11am at all the participating pubs and at Primrose Hill Community Library tomorrow. Starting at the Albert in Princess Road, punters can work their way round The Lansdowne pub, The Princess of Wales, Michael Nadra wine bar, Negozio Classica winery and The Queens, where they must pick up a menu and answer a question about each venue, before heading to the Primrose Hill Community Centre bar to enter into a fundraising prize draw at 7.30. 

Local actor Alan Ford, best known for his gangster roles in Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, will be announcing the winner. Prizes include pink champagne, dinners at the pubs and cocktail making classes.

Mr Ford said: “What else would I be doing on a Saturday night except being in a pub? I think it is a shame that all the pubs are disappearing, so anything we can do to keep things going is good, as property developers keep taking over.” 

His own favourite, the former Queens Tavern in Edis Road, was closed a year ago to be turned into a house by comedian Harry Enfield.

Primrose Hill Community Association member Phil Cowan, who helped organise the event, said: “With all the controversy around The Albert right now, it is a really good time to remind people that we have all these great bars in the area so lets go out and support them.”