FORGET Sun Hill, Brighton police station is going to feature in television show The Bill.

The Brighton nick plays a major role in a forthcoming episode based in the town. Camera crews will also film the storyline in the Lanes and on the seafront. Programme makers say Brighton bobbies are the heroes, rescuing the Sun Hill mob from a messy investigation into knockerboys. Aprogramme spokeswoman said: "The story is called Brighton Rock and is a special two-parter. "DC Skase and DS Beech go to Brighton to investigate the antiques trade and get in to problems. "They find a nice bar, which turns out to be a gay pub, and then one of them gets locks in a refrigerated container, is discovered by the villains and tied up and then - you'll just have to wait and see." Senior officers and PCs are now jockeying for position in the hope of achieving TV stardom. Even officers who feigned indifference to the programme have been talking about how much they are like characters in the show. After a visit by the producers, CID got in early to nab the freebie The Bill baseball caps, and there is a booming black market in promotional photographs of the stars. An Argus source in the John Street station said: "Everyone's going bonkers about The Bill coming down. Everyone wants to be in it. "People who pretend they don't watch the show are comparing themselves to the characters, and a very senior officer has been heard to bemoan how little Superintendent Brownlow appears in the show and deserves a bigger role." Filming begins on March 30 and is expected to last five days. The station was photographed by film-makers this week and a replica of some inside scenes may be built in a London studio. The episodes are expected to be screened in mid-May.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.