A SERIAL killer is stalking the streets of Bolton and police are desperately hunting for clues...

At least, that's what the storyline was when filming began on a major television drama in the town yesterday.

It was lights, camera, action outside the Market Place and in Corporation Street, Bolton, as filming started on the third series of the ITV1 thriller Cold Blood.

Birds of a Feather star Pauline Quirke appeared as DI Hazel Norton who is heading a detective team which is trying to crack the case of a notorious serial killer.

The star-studded cast also includes Russell Brand, as an obsessive stalker, Tony Slattery, as a pathologist, and Coronation Street star Bill Ward, who plays army lieutenant Paul Attwell.

Jemma Redgrave, John Hannah and Matthew Kelly will also appear in three new episodes due to be screened later this year.

A spokesman for the show said: "In the three new episodes, the team must establish the truth about a young girl's murder; investigate a link between a number of deaths at an army base; and Brian Wicklow, the jailed serial killer played by Matthew Kelly, is still at the forefront of everyone's minds."

Executive Producer Kieran Roberts, controller of ITV Drama, added: "We have managed to reunite Matthew Kelly, John Hannah and Jemma Redgrave along with some fantastic guests.

"The writer, Tom Needham, has come up with three gripping storylines that will captivate the audience and leave them with a shocking finale."

Other major television series that have been filmed in Bolton include the Channel 4 comedy Shameless and BBC1 hit Life On Mars.