A FORMER Blackburn College student who has made his mark on the TV world is about to make a fictional journey across the Yorkshire Dales.

Fresh from starring in ITV soap Emmerdale, James Slark - whose stage name is James Carlton - has secured a part as PC Steve Crane in Heartbeat, set in the make-believe village of Aidensfield.

The 24-year-old from Bolton studied A-level Performing Arts in Blackburn and also completed a BTEC National Diploma in Media studies before leaving in 1997, notching up 17 distinctions and three merits in the process.

Since then, James has appeared in sitcoms Cold Feet and Days Like These before he got his big break in 1999 in Emmerdale, in which he played Jason Kirk.