THE writer on whose books popular TV series Heartbeart is based has published the first of a new series of titles.

Some Assured, by Nicholas Rhea, draws on his father's tales of his experiences as a rural insurance agent in the North York Moors in the 1950s.

He said: "This was a way of life much removed from what we know today and I thought it would be good to write a book fictionalising some of the tales my father told me and the sort of incidents that used to happen to him."

He has written more than 100 books, including the Constable titles, on which Heartbeat was based.

His latest crime novel, The Curse of the Golden Trough, will be published on October 14.