SOME of television's biggest stars are to descend on the North Yorkshire coast when shooting begins for a new film in Scarborough.

Maving Waves, based on the town's famous pirate radio ship 270, will start filming in the spring.

Starring well-known actors Michael Gambon, Richard E. Grant and Johnny Vegas, as well as TV presenter Angus Deayton, the film enhances the region's growing tradition for movie blockbusters.

Making Waves follows the likes of Little Voice, starring Michael Caine, the yet to be released Miranda and the appearance of Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow in Possession, which was filmed in Whitby.

It also follows hot on the heels of the first Harry Potter movie, which was partly filmed on the North Yorkshire Moors.

Coun David Jeffels, Scarborough Borough Council's cabinet member for tourism and leisure, said: "It is excellent that our East Coast is once again going to provide the backdrop for a film. Movies like this and television series like Heartbeat, get this beautiful part of the country priceless exposure.

"We pride ourselves on being a film-friendly location and always do what we can to accommodate film crews.

"The pirate radio station is part of Scarborough's history and I am delighted that a film is to be made in celebration of it."

Coun Don Robinson was a member of the consortium which launched the radio ship in 1966. He said: "This was a tremendous period. It was the 1960s - the peak of the rock era - and everyone was having a brilliant time. The pirate radio ship was an excellent experience.

"At first we only thought listeners would be able to hear us in Yorkshire but in the end they could hear the station in Leicester, Nottingham and all over the Midlands. I remember once the ship broke its mast and had to come to Scarborough for repairs - the response and interest it generated was unbelievable."

Updated: 10:25 Tuesday, January 21, 2003