'H&A' star voices 'Neighbours' support

Home and Away legend Ray Meagher has admitted that he wants the show's fellow Australian soap Neighbours to "keep going forever".

The actor, who plays fan favourite Alf Stewart, told Pink Paper that he would like the Ramsay Street serial to remain successful because it provides employment for so many people in the TV industry.

Asked whether there is a rivalry between Home and Away and Neighbours in Australia, Meagher replied: "No, there's not really, because we go to air in different time slots - they go to air at 6.30, we go to air at 7."

He then joked: "We get twice as many viewers as they do in Australia, it's no contest really. No, I didn't say that! I really didn't!

"I mean, they've been on the BBC [in the UK] with a huge audience, and Channel Five's audience is growing all the time and they're on Five with us - sister soaps, if you like. In Australia, as far as I'm concerned, I would hope that Neighbours would keep going forever. It's a lot of work for a lot of people."

Meagher is currently on a six-month break from Summer Bay as he is appearing in a production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in London's West End.