BOLTON is famous for many things -- and now there are the star triplets to add to the list.

It all started with the Bateson triplets who took starring roles in ITV' hit drama Cold Feet last year.

And now, we have just seen the May triplets cutting a dash in the BBC's acclaimed Cutting It drama by Eccles-born Debbie Horsfield.

The two shows -- both set in Manchester -- proved to be big hits with the viewing public -- and so have the Bolton toddlers who took part.

Only last month, TV viewers took Charles, Nathaniel and Harrison May to their hearts in Cutting It, the hairdressing drama inspired by the Radcliffe salon once ran by Debbie Horsfield's twin sisters.

The beautiful boys were seen in an episode in which actress Amanda Holden (Mia) opens a creche inside the salon.

Mum Joanne explained the tots were cast in the series through a modelling agency, who contacted the family after seeing their photographs in the Bolton Evening News last Christmas.

The boys have also done other modelling work, including Huggies pamphlets while Nathaniel has appeared in a Matalan catalogue and had a spot on Coronation Street.

"They are always really good -- otherwise I wouldn't have done it," said Joanne, who, together with husband, car showroom manager Jonathan, also has an older son Jacob William. He has been signed up by the agency, too.

Said Joanne: "They enjoyed the filming -- even though it was raining on the day and they were wet through.

"They love the attention and they were mesmerised by it all.

"We were all there -- it really was an experience."

Joanne, who lives in Bromley Cross with her "men", gave birth to the triplets at Royal Bolton Hospital at 35 weeks.

She said she is coping with looking after her foursome by just "getting on with it", with help from her mum.

Diederick Santer, producer of Cutting it, was impressed with the Bolton twins.

He said: "When I read the script and saw that Debbie Horsfield, the writer, wanted to do a scene with baby triplets, my heart sank. Where would we find them?

"But in a few days, Cath Lill, our brilliant second assistant director, had found them, and they were absolutely perfect.

"The triplets were so cute that they melted the hearts of even the most hardened film crew members.

"And Amanda Holden and Ben Daniels, who held them in the scene, thought they were delightful too.

"It was a freezing cold day, but they were as good as gold -- no tantrums and no wailing -- and the babies were well-behaved too."

A YEAR ago it was the turn of the Bateson triplets from Sharples -- Jessica, Lara and Benjamin -- who were snapped up by a Granada producer to appear in Cold Feet.

The threesome took turns in playing the baby "twins" of characters Karen and David Marsden (Hermione Norris and Robert Bathurst), depending on whether one looked bored, tired or upset.

The triplets' real father, Bolton-based police officer Andy Bateson, said the cast members were "fantastic" with the little ones. They spent 36 hours filing scenes for series three and four of Cold Feet, which followed the life of six friends battling to make the best of their careers, families and relationships.

The babies became the first Millennium triplets in the North-west when their mother, Fiona, gave birth at the Princess Maternity Unit in Manchester.

Co-starring alongside the triplets were Helen Baxendale, who had a role in US sitcom Friends, as well as James Nesbitt, John Thomson, and Fay Ripley.

The Bateson triplets also have an older brother, Zachary.

So who will be the next Bolton triplets to make it onto the small screen? Watch this space...