TV writer Paul Abbott has revealed how East Lancashire helped shape his new show.

Burnley-born Abbott, the creator of hit Channel 4 show Shameless, has teamed up with Nelson’s John Simm on Exile, a gritty psychological thriller also starring Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent.

And Abbott said his hometown played a part in the creation of Exile.

The series, which will air on BBC1 next month, centres on a London-based journalist played by Simm, who returns to his Lancashire hometown to find his father in the grip of Alzheimer's.

Abbott said: “My grandma had Alzheimer's. I remember driving...and there was a news bulletin which said two pensioners had caused a riot in a working men's club in Burnley - that was my gran, Lilly Law, and they were both 88.

“It is desperate that people can get to that bit in their memory that is only clear fleetingly, that they won't remember again until something happens to trigger it.”

In the programme, Simm’s character’s return leads him to expose a ‘mind-blowing’ scandal.

And Simm admitted his roots also played a part in playing the character, as he recalled his experiences as a London-based student returning to Lancashire.

He said: “I did that the whole time I was a student, also driving back up north, meeting prejudice and the old school friends that you'd lose touch with who are a little bit resentful.

“I'm not saying that massively happened to me, but I can relate to it.”

Exile starts on 1 May at 9pm on BBC1.