The cameras were rolling at the city's Fishergate Shopping Centre for filming of an advert for sweet giant Cadbury's latest snack.

The ground floor of the centre was transformed into a Christmas wonderland for the Cadbury's Clusters ad, which stars Phoenix Nights' funnyman Ted Robbins.

Last month Virgin Trains used Preston railway station to film an advert encouraging people to travel by rail, Kelloggs' Crunchy Nut shot on the Flag Market and a Clark's shoes ad even compared the city with Paris.

Anna Cousins, a film liaison officer in Lancashire for North West Vision, said Preston was attracting attention from many advertisers and film-makers.

She said: "We get people looking for locations for adverts, pop music promos, films, all sorts of requests and usually they want nice scenic views of the countryside which is pretty spectacular, but often they want dingy places too.

"Old derelict mill buildings and rows of terraced houses are normal requests, but they are harder and harder to find because they are being either knocked down or turned into call centres.

"In Preston, it is usually the Town Hall or the court houses that they want to use but the train station has had quite a few inquiries as well."

Cadbury's ad star Ted Robbins said he believed the "warmth" of Prestonians was a big draw for the city.

He said: "More and more people are coming up North because it is easy to get here and plenty of places to film. Where's London anyway? Never heard of it."

Mrs Cousins said the wonders of camera trickery could easily transform even the least glamorous location into a famous one.

The film expert said: "Liverpool has doubled as New York City and someone once did some filming about Dunkirk on Grimsby docks. It is all about finding somewhere cheaper and easier to do it than the place itself."

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