Female 'Bill' stars want handcuff lessons

The Bill's producers have lined up lessons on how to use handcuffs for the show's actresses.

The decision was sparked after a number of the ITV1 programme's female stars, including new recruit Claire Goose, expressed fears that their physical scenes did not look realistic enough.

"Me and many of the girls feel a bit intimidated about slapping on the handcuffs," Claire told The Sun. "You can do a lot of damage to people if you get it wrong.

"A lot of us girls are quite petite and if you are in a scene with some big burly guy and have to disarm him and pin him down on the floor, it has to look convincing. So the production team are organising for us to go on a course on how to control people."

Goose will be seen on-screen as new character Rachel Weston from August.