Cheeky chappie Jamie Oliver took inspiration from cartoon character Popeye as he hit Brighton beach to film his latest advert.

The chef plugs the virtues of spinach in the new commercial for food giant Sainsbury's.

He appeared on the beach next to the Palace Pier in a pink ice cream van which had been converted into a travelling kitchen. Instead of ice creams and lollies, the van, which had "Jamie's" emblazoned on the side, was dishing up spinach. Jamie was preparing dishes for the supermarket's "Try something new today" ad campaign.

Also plastered over the van was "Young leaf spinach £1.35".

Dozens of passers-by stopped to watch the day-long filming even though it was not quite the summer sunshine Jamie had been hoping for.

But this did not stop him pausing from filming to sign autographs.

The shoot moved on to Queen's Park in Brighton in the afternoon.

Fiona Rollings, an events manager from Finsbury Road, Brighton, clocked the celebrity cook twice during the day. But despite Jamie's attempts, she will not be rushing to stock up on spinach just yet.

She said: "It smelt pretty good but I didn't care enough to stop."

Four children and 40 adults from Fresh Agents, a casting company based in Brighton, also starred in the commercial.

Sainsbury's - who pay Jamie £1.2million to spearhead its attempts to outsell rival stores - is hoping the commercial will make spinach sales soar. This will be good news for Jamie, who has been campaigning for healthier school dinners and even raised the issue with Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Brighton and Hove City Council was delighted Jamie chose Brighton to film his latest advert.

A spokeswoman said: "I'm not surprised Sainsbury's chose to film down here. It's a great setting with the sea and the pier in the background. There are plenty of eyecatching things to film here.