CHILDREN rubbed shoulders with actors on the set of a much-loved TV police drama.

Seven youngsters from Thornton Watlass Primary School, near Bedale, North Yorkshire, were yesterday invited to act as extras for some of the final scenes of the Sixties-set show Heartbeat.

Dressed in Sixties-style clothing, the seven – Matthew and Abigail Smith-Dodsworth, Sam Connolly, Alfie and Annie Hill, Charlotte Boyce and Joseph Hall – filmed scenes for the show at Thornton Watlass Hall, watched by classmates.

The show is being suspended by ITV after its current series, with no decision yet on its longterm future.

Headteacher Adam Pritchard-Jenkins said: “We have done some work on play scripts, looking at some of the older Heartbeat scripts as well.

“The set visit has fitted in well with the children’s work on literacy.”

Thornton Watlass Hall is a regular location for Heartbeat, doubling as Ashfordly Hall.

Campaigners to save the series, much of which is filmed in Goathland, on the North York Moors, have collected more than 15,000 names on a petition.