TELEVISION stars are filling the streets, shops and bars of Frodsham as the town is transformed into the set for a new ITV drama.

Film crews descended on the market town which was transformed into a fictional community for the setting of the new six-part television war drama Homefront.

Actress Claire Skinner, famous for her roles as long-suffering mum in BBC sitcom Outnumbered, and Claire Higgins who starred in The Syndicate and Silent Witness, were spotted filming scenes for the drama outside The Bears Paw and the Frodsham Army Cadets base in Main Street.

For the next six weeks Frodsham is set to become a fictional backdrop for the garrison town of Leysham, with actresses taking over local businesses and landmarks as filming for the series continues.

As production began this week on the drama – which tells the story of four wives and girlfriends of soldiers serving on the frontline in Afghanistan – social networking site Twitter was flooded with rumours and excited comments as residents tried to find out what was being filmed in the town.

Customers at hair and beauty salon Lusso were sent text messages telling them that the salon would be closed one day a week for the next six weeks as it becomes a film set – with the staff posing as extras.

Frodsham’s Mayor Cllr Andrew Dawson has welcomed the cast and crew of the drama – which is being filmed under the code name SWAG (soldiers, wives and girlfriends) – as ‘exciting news’ for the town.

Frodsham Cllr Lynn Riley said the filming presented an ‘excellent opportunity’ for the town to be seen on prime time TV across the country.

Frodsham will be heavily featured in the drama, which will also have scenes  filmed in Manchester and Warrington, as it is the home town of the main characters played by Claire Skinner and Claire Higgins alongside Nicola Stephenson of Strike Back and Antonia Thomas, star of Misfits and The Deep.  

The town was chosen after location manager Kevin Jackson decided it would be the perfect match for the fictional barracks town.

“When I brought the producer and director here, they fell in love with Frodsham as well, and we want to show all the characters as living here,” said Mr Jackson, who said they were grateful for the co-operation of local businesses and the help of Cheshire West and Chester Council.

“We want to do our very best for Frodsham and to show it in a very positive light,” he said.

The filming will shine the spotlight on local businesses including Macs nightclub, Amore, The Bears Paw and Lusso Hair and Beauty salon.  

The drama has been created by writer of Birds of a Feather Sue Teddern and Jan McVerry, who penned episodes of Coronation Street and Clocking Off.

It focuses on the lives of four women who live in Army quarters in the fictional town and highlights the difficulties they face as their loved ones are sent off to war.