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A comedy club first opened in 1959 by controversial comic Bernard Manning is being flattened - to make way for a health centre. The World Famous Embassy Club, in Harpurhey, Manchester, was most recently owned by the late comedian's son, Bernard Manning Jr, who it took on after his father retired in 1999.

In its heyday, when Manning was one of the main stars on the 1970s hit ITV stand-up show 'The Comedians', some of the UK's biggest stars either performed on stage or watched from the audience. Now Manchester City Council has bought the club, will demolish it and build one of the city's largest health centres.

Town hall chiefs are ready to kick-start a health drive in Harpurhey, which has "one of the worst health profiles in the country", with a week-long festival.

Local councillor Pat Karney said: "We have mobilised the community for the biggest health festival that Harpurhey has ever seen."

A timeline for demolishing the club and building the new health centre has yet to be confirmed, and a planning application has been submitted for the move.

Manning, who died in 2007, was born in Ancoats, Greater Manchester, in 1939 and he became a household name in the 1970s through Granada TV's The Comedians.

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But he was known for highly offensive and racially-charged material. He repeatedly denied racism claims, saying: "I tell jokes. You never take a joke seriously."

Manning opened The World Famous Embassy Club in 1959 and it was most recently owned by the late comedian's son, Bernard Manning Jr, who took on the Rochdale Road venue after his father retired in 1999.

Manning Jr put the club up for sale in 2014, and it had faced an uncertain future since 2017, when a London-based Evangelical Church lodged a planning application to host services at the venue.

At the time, councillor Karney said the town hall would oppose the move and the church proposals never came to fruition.