THEY wanted a muddy field - and they got one! Television crews are in the Holme Valley this week filming at a local amateur rugby league club ground.

Underbank Rangers' grounds and club house at The Cross, Holmfirth, are being used for filming episodes for the next series.

But some of the scenes, showing a muddy, waterlogged bog, were filmed in an adjoining field with gallons of water sprayed on by the film crew to get the desired effect.

Actors Philip Middlemiss (David Buckley), Andrew Paul (Billy Booth) and Christian Cooke (Luke Kirkwall) waded through the mud in a series of shots for the new series.

A spokesman for the popular drama, now in its tenth series, said the club acted as the home ground for "The Scorpions" the local rugby league team.

The series is due to be screened later this year.

A spokesman from Underbank RLFC said it was delighted to once again welcome the "Where the Heart Is" crews to its ground at The Cross.

"The club is very pleased to once again be approached by the producers to use the clubhouse and grounds for the series," he said.

"Featuring in a popular drama like this helps promote our club and the game of rugby league to a wider audience, which is beneficial to the sport as a whole."

It is ten years since the series first arrived on television screens, then starring Sarah Lancashire and Pam Ferris.

Where The Heart Is is set in the fictional village of Skelthwaite, a fusion of the villages of Skelmanthorpe and Slaithwaite, and is filmed mainly in Slaithwaite and Marsden.

But other notable places, including Huddersfield Town Hall, have featured prominently in it.

It began as a pilot of just six episodes, but eight series later it has become a firm favourite with millions of viewers on Sunday nights.

It has undoubtedly attracted thousands of visitors to the area wanting to see the Yorkshire landscape along with its textile and engineering heritage, terraced streets and renewed canals.

The actors and actresses have changed over the years, but it continues to attract big names including Lesley Dunlop and Denise Van Outen.

A spokeswoman for Kirklees Council said: "There is no doubt that Where The Heart Is and other programmes filmed around here have brought tourists into the area and the local economy has benefited enormously.

"Seeing the countryside on the programme is one of the best possible ways to boost the profile of the Huddersfield area and proves we are so much more than dark satanic mills."