'Heartbeat' villagers petition against axe

Residents of the Yorkshire village where Heartbeat is filmed have launched a petition to save the show.

Last month, ITV announced that the police drama and its spinoff The Royal will not be recommissioned in a bid to save money.

According to the Daily Mail, villagers in Goathland have gathered almost 10,000 signatures in their bid to make the broadcaster reconsider its decision.

Campaign leader Brian Taylor, who runs the local post office with his wife, said that the area will experience a wave of unemployment if the programme ends.

"It is the amount of publicity Heartbeat gives the whole area worldwide for tourism. Once it goes there will be a slow decline. Tourism is jobs, people coming back to the area and money coming into the local economy," he said.

"It's not just us. It's all the other little villages on the moors as well. This will hit trade along the line."

Heartbeat, which is set in the fictional Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, debuted in 1992 and attracted audiences of around ten million at its peak, although recently it has suffered a decline in viewers.