SPECULATION continues as to who will succeed Daniel Craig as the next James Bond.

Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston and Henry Cavill are all thought to be in the frame to don 007’s tuxedo in the spy film franchise.

But did you know we were once very close to having a Blackburn-born Bond?

Sixties heart-throb actor Michael Billington was considered several times for the part but missed out.

Billington was born at Springfield Maternity Home on Christmas Eve, 1941.

He lived with parents Eric and Helena in Kelsall Avenue until 18 months old and his family moved to London.

Although said not to be a fan of the Bond franchise, the actor’s story is inextricably linked to the role.

His first involvement in the Bond role was when Bud Ornstein, a big boss at United Artists, saw Billington in a late-night theatre in the mid-1960s doing stand-up and asked him to meet him at the UA offices.

Billington did a photoshoot and the photographs were shown to Bond producer Harry Saltzman, but it came to nothing and the role was given to Aussie George Lazenby.

While Billington was working on hit TV series UFO, Saltzman, then co-producer of the Bond films, contacted UFO creators Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and looked at footage from UFO to see if he was suitable to replace Sean Connery, who had just made Diamonds Are Forever, in Moonraker, which was to be the next Bond film.

As it turned out, Live And Let Die was made next, and Moonraker put back until 1979.

It wasn’t until Live And Let Die that Billington first screen-tested for the role. He felt that the test went well and word in the national press was that he had bagged the part.

Alas, Billington was stunned when Roger Moore won through.

His next Bond-related moment came when producer Cubby Broccoli offered him a part in The Spy Who Loved Me as Sergei, Barbara Bach’s lover who is killed by James Bond before the opening credits.

He took the role, lured by the prospect of spending a few weeks filming in St Moritz, despite the feeling it might weaken his chances of finally bagging Bond.

Billington had just finished filming on TV show The Professionals when he got the call for another series of screen tests for Moonraker.

No offer was made again and when 1981 film For Your Eyes Only came around Billington was touted for the role once again.

Moore was haggling over his fee so other options were looked at, including Lewis Collins from The Professionals, but rumour had it that he was shown the door after asking for £1million.

Broccoli had Billington flown to Corfu for a wardrobe fitting and a picture shoot. Again Billington was thwarted due to Moore settling his differences and signing on as Bond again.

Billington’s final attempt to play Bond came around with Octopussy. Billington was tested once more but Moore finally signed on once more.

Billington died in June 2005, aged 63.