Veteran Heartbeat star Bill Maynard, paralysed by a serious stroke, said last night that the hit show must continue.

He has urged TV bosses to replace him with singer David Essex, playing a highly personable wheeler-dealer gypsy.

They worked together last month on the seventh episode of the latest series, which is set in Goathland, days before Bill became ill.

Bill, who will be 72 later this year, said : "He was great, playing a crafty gipsy character. He could so easily take over the kind of role I've played for 18 years, but younger of course, loads of charm, a ladies' man.

David enjoyed working in Heartbeat and I'm convinced he would revitalise the show for another ten years if necessary."

Heartbeat, produced by Yorkshire Television, is sold to 40 countries, a big TV export earner for parent company Granada.

But after falling ill during filming in studios at Farsley, near Leeds, last week, Bill said: "If I ever work again as an actor it will be in a wheelchair. In fact, I doubt if I will ever work again. It's all over for me."

He had minor strokes in 1998 and last year, but insisted on working, appearing in 24 stories each year.

He said: "I feared this would happen to me. The big one. It is a case of three strokes and I'm out. The left hand side of my body is para1ysed. It's like a line has been drawn midway. I can't walk and have to be carried about. Thankfully, it hasn't affected my mind or speech."

When he collapsed on set he was rushed to Leeds General Hospital by ambulance. Doctors who examined him thought it was another minor stroke. They allowed him to return to his home in Sapcote, near Leicester, driven by his chauffeur.

But next day he was admitted to the stroke unit at Leicester General Hospital.

A spokeswoman there confirmed that he had suffered a serious stroke and that his condition was "stable" last night.

Bill also suffers from diabetes and for years he has walked only with great difficulty because of a knee injury as a teenage soccer player. He planned to have an operation for an artificial kneecap next year.

His first wife, Muriel, died of cancer in 1983. In 1999 he married cabaret singer star Tonia Bern-Campbell, widow of speed ace Donald Campbell.

But mainly because of their work commitments, they lived apart, Tonia in California and Bill in Sapcote.

Three years ago, they decided their marriage was at an end, but they are not divorced.

Recent1y Bill developed a loving relationship with leading theatrical costume designer Wynne Shearne,69, who lives in Scarborough.

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