A COUPLE of antique dealers were transported back to the 1950s after providing props for a film set.

Peter Crossley and his wife Mary, owners of Holden Wood Antiques, Grane Road, Haslingden, went to keep an eye on the property they loaned for the filming of a post-war antiques fair.

But they ended up being asked to take part in a scene for BBC drama Born and Bred in the Ribble Valley village of Downham.

Peter, 57, of Cravens Brow, Blackburn, said: "The woman who buys things from us for the series asked if she could rent a large quantity of our antiques for the fair.

"We were just there to make sure everything was safe from a security point of view. But then we were told to get changed as we were to be given walk-on parts.

"We put on some 1950s gear. Mary was given a wig and I had to have my hair cut with a side parting to help make us look the part.

"I couldn't believe the amount of takes it took to film one scene, for ours it took 25 and we had to make sure we were in the same positions each time."

Peter and Mary provided Victorian antiques including rugs, tables and chairs that dated back to 1850 to help ensure the fair was typical for its era.

Born and Bred, the Sunday peak-time series, set in the fictional village of Ormston in the 1950s, stars Richard Wilson, John Henshaw and Naomi Radcliffe.

It has attracted more than seven million viewers per episode.

Peter who has three children and three granddaughters, added: "We were treated like stars as we were picked up in a van and taken to Downham Village Hall, where we dined with all the stars."

They met Henshaw and Radcliffe, "who were both really nice people."

The scene will be screened early next year.