IT never happened on PC Nick Rowan’s watch in Heartbeat.

But the village of Goathland – the real-life Aidensfield – has seen seven arrests in the past three days after people were reported to be travelling to a field in the area to pick magic mushrooms.

The men, aged in their twenties and early thirties and from the Humberside and Hartlepool areas, were arrested in the village after being spotted picking the mushrooms.

The 2005 Drugs Act classifies fresh and prepared magic mushrooms – which grow in the wild in the UK – as Class A drugs.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “We can confirm that we have received a number of reports of people visiting the Goathland area to allegedly pick magic mushrooms.

“Following a report on Wednesday, three men aged 21, 24 and 26 from Hartlepool were arrested on suspicion of possessing a Class A drug. They were each given an adult caution for possessing magic mushrooms, before being released later the same day.

“And on Thursday four men from the Humberside area, two aged 26, a 28-year-old and a 32-year-old, were arrested on suspicion of possessing a Class A drug. They have now been released on bail to allow for further inquiries.”

The spokesman said there were understood to have been previous reports of people visiting the same area to pick mushrooms a couple of years ago.

Rumours about the arrests have spread around the close-knit community.

One villager said he had seen some police activity in Main Street earlier in the week.

Another said: “I have heard a rumour that they must have been seen picking the mushrooms. The police stopped a car and arrested an occupant.”

Goathland provided the backdrop to the long-running British police drama series Heartbeat set in 1960s Yorkshire and broadcast on ITV between 1992 and 2010.