Chance of big screen debut over for Stow (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Chance of big screen debut over for Stow

MOVIE stardom no longer beckons for the town of Stow.

Working Title, makers of the hit film Bridget Jones' Diary, which was partly filmed at Snowshill, says the town will not feature in a new comedy, Hot Fuzz, due to be shot next year.

Their decision comes after members of Stow Business Association rejected the planned two-week shoot in The Square next May, which they said would ruin trade.

But following a public outcry and calls for a rethink, mayor Alan Rose contacted the filmmakers to see if the town could be put back in the frame.

Unfortunately, Cllr Rose believes that the curtain has come down on Stow's hopes of stepping into the limelight.

"I think it's dead. I phoned the location manager last week and tried to make peace with him and to say if the film company were still considering the possibility of coming to Stow we would welcome them to come to a meeting but I feel they have made a decision to go elsewhere," said the mayor. He said that he was assured that Stow's initial rejection of the location shoot, with 20 actors and 60 crew, had no bearing on the company's decision.