Gavin and Stacey's Ruth Jones turns out as Nessa to switch on Barry's Christmas lights

Gavin And Stacey favourite Nessa has returned to her old stomping ground of Barry to switch on the town's Christmas lights.

Actress Ruth Jones was the guest of honour at the festive ceremony in South Wales, and turned up fully in character.

Her appearance comes ahead of a long-awaited Christmas special for the show, nine years after the series ended.

Dressed in a classic Nessa outfit and with short black hair, Jones addressed the crowd with her character's famous catchphrase: "Oh, what's occurin'?"

She continued: "Cracking to see you all tonight... have you got nothing better to do?

"Oh, there's some lookers out here tonight, a few exes in the crowd here I can see."

Gavin And Stacey, about a long-distance relationship between a girl from Barry and a boy from Essex, returns for the one-off special on Christmas Day.

The special was announced by Jones and the show's co-creator James Corden in May, but few details have been released.

In a statement announcing the comeback, Jones and Corden said they had "loved revisiting Barry and Essex again" and that bringing the characters back had been "a joy".

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"Over the last 10 years we've talked a lot about Gavin and Stacey - where they might be today and what their lives might look like," they said.

"So, in secret, we took the plunge and wrote this one-hour special."

The Barry lights switch-on was hosted by local radio station Bro Radio, which captured the moment on camera.