FILMING in Yorkshire has benefited the UK by hundreds of millions of pounds, new reports have shown.

Research released by the Government and the British Film Institute (BFI), said creative industries are growing twice as fast as the UK economy as a whole, and recognised the work done by Screen Yorkshire in recent years to bring money into the region and contribute to increased employment.

The Government report - prepared by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the Creative Industries Council - said Screen Yorkshire had contributed to an increase in employment in the region by 88 per cent between 2009 and 2015, and turnover by 247 per cent over the same period.

Films and television shows produced by Screen Yorkshire around the region in recent years included the big screen Dad’s Army adaptation, starring Toby Jones, Bill Nighy and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Victoria, starring Jenna Coleman and filmed at Church Fenton, and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, starring Eddie Marsan, which was filmed in part at York Minster.

The BFI report, also released this week, said Screen Yorkshire’s contribution to the creative industries - through its Yorkshire Content Fund - was had delivered unprecedented growth in turnover and employment in the screen industries, delivering high-end television and film productions across the region.

Last June, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed the growth of the film and TV industry in Yorkshire and Humberside outstripped that of every other part of the UK, and that between 2009 and 2015, an annual turnover of £424 million was generated across 590 creative businesses - an increase of 247 per cent compared with the UK average of 118 per cent.