Ex-Dales star fronts farming campaign ad

Former Emmerdale star Richard Grieve has started fronting a new Friends of the Earth advertising campaign.

The Australian-born actor, who played Jonny Foster in the Yorkshire-based soap, appears in a two-minute YouTube video for the organisation with only farmyard animals as co-stars.

The short film sees Grieve taking on the role of a politician who is confronted by a group of singing cows in desperate need of home-grown food.

As the story continues, the animals convince Grieve's character to change his mindset by performing their own version of Little Shop Of Horrors number 'Feed Me'.

Speaking of his new role, the soap star commented: "I was shocked to find out that producing meat and dairy leads to more climate-changing emissions than all the world's transport - and relieved to hear that Friends of the Earth is on the case with its Food Chain Campaign.

"This video calls on the Government to get behind planet-friendly farming which means treating animals better and giving them home-grown feed instead of importing it from areas where forests have been cleared to grow it."

He added: "You don't have to have worked on Emmerdale to know what a hard time UK farmers are having so I'm completely behind Friends of the Earth's call for more money and support for small and planet-friendly farms."

Grieve was last seen on Emmerdale in January this year.