THE BBC is set to pull the plug on Last Of The Summer Wine.

The shock news was given to the man who has brought the show to the nation’s TV screens for more than two decades.

And Alan J W Bell said it was a “terrible” blow.

He said the news stunned actors and staff who have worked for 35 years on the world’s longest running comedy series.

The news will also come as a serious blow to shopkeepers and traders in Holmfirth, who have enjoyed a tourism boom as a spin off from the hit show.

Mr Bell, the series’ producer and director for 27 years, said

BBC chiefs confirmed to him they are not commissioning another series of the comedy.

The Corporation last night insisted no final decision had been made.

But those working on the show, including comedian Russ Abbott as one of the main characters, fear it will be the last.

The news came only days after the death of Kathy Staff, one of the actresses in the show from the start.

Mrs Staff, who made Nora Batty one of TV’s most memorable characters, died at the weekend.

The rest of the last series, which was filmed earlier this year, is due to be screened in autumn 2009, with a festive one-off special on December 31.

But Mr Bell said Corporation chiefs have decided not to commission any more – a decision which will leave millions of fans very angry and sad.

One show insider said: “It is terrible news.

“Why should the BBC be happy to pay millions of pounds for the likes of Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand and their foul-mouth obscenities, but not want to commission a series that is gentle, family viewing that has attracted millions?”

Mr Bell said he was stunned by the news.

“We accept there are no promises made but the new shows we have just completed have been the best ever.

“Millions still enjoy the series and the actors love being involved. Russ Abbott has just joined us and would have become the main character. When I broke the news to him he said: ‘I’m gutted.’

“It has been a massive part of my life for 27 years, as it has for many, many TV viewers”.

The regulars included the late Bill Owen, Dame Thora Hird and Brian Wilde as well as Peter Sallis, Jean Alexander and Frank Thornton.

In recent years they have been joined by the likes of Burt Kwouk, Brian Murphy, Sir Norman Wisdom and Eric Sykes.

Click here for a photgallery of pictures from the last 35 years of the show .