POPULAR Channel 4 teen soap Hollyoaks has admitted it is using Chester less and less as a location because of daily filming pressures.
Chester continues to be the setting for the fictional suburb of Hollyoaks but a rigorous schedule means the cast is no longer able to venture out from their studio in Childwall, Liverpool.
Hollyoaks was devised by Phil Redmond, also the creator of popular soap operas Brookside and Grange Hill.
When it was first broadcast in October 1995, only one episode was shown a week. Over the years this has gradually increased to five, attracting an average of three million viewers per week.
The high turnover of episodes is making it more difficult to film on location in Chester as often as the Hollyoaks team would like.
A spokesperson for production company Lime Pictures said: “Filming five episodes of a popular soap opera every week is incredibly fast-moving and unfortunately time pressure means we are unable to film on location as often as we have in the past.
“As well as the time used to travel, it is much more time consuming to film in Chester as many tourists and residents flock to see the filming. This is great entertainment for us, but unfortunately slows down the filming process.
“But Hollyoaks remains extremely proud to be based in the fictional suburb of Chester and despite the fact that we don’t film on location as often, we continue to endeavour to arrange events in the area such as the recent football challenge and charity ball.”
