AN Ambleside woman has lifted the lid on ITV’s new Lakes-set drama after working as the only Cumbrian member of the crew.

Hannah Melling, 22, went from behind the till to behind the camera after taking a break from her cashier job at Spar in Ambleside to work as a trainee locations assistant on ‘Safe House’.

The dark and brooding four-part drama tells the story of Robert (Christopher Eccleston), a former police detective who has embarked on a new life in Coniston after being seriously injured in the line of duty.

He and his wife, teacher Katy (Marsha Thomason), are asked by close friend and detective Mark (Paterson Joseph), to turn their remote guest house into a police safe house.

Hannah became involved in the project ‘by chance’ after the location manager at ITV stayed at the Rydal guest house run by her parents.

“My mum mentioned that I’d studied Media and Television at university and he managed to get me a position,” she said.

“I worked with the crew for the full 10 weeks of filming and had to provide the local knowledge when filming in the Lakes.”

The first episode aired on Monday night, and eagle-eyed viewers will have spotted Thwaite House in Coniston as Eccleston’s ‘safe house’, as well as Priory School in Ambleside as being where his wife works, and driving scenes on Wrynose Pass.

Hannah said: “It was very enjoyable but it was hard work, spending 15-hour days standing on mountains in the rain.

“Christopher Eccleston was really down to earth, and he would always come and hang out with the crew when he wasn’t filming.”

Eccleston has revealed that he had to wild swim in Coniston Water twice and Derwent Water three times during the shoot.

“The swimming scenes were not the greatest thing to contemplate the night before. But to actually do them was wonderful. Exhilarating.

“The Lake District was a fantastic location. Our director led us into the most extremes of the Lakes and it was great. Because there’s nothing that makes me happier than being out of reach of email and mobiles.”

On the importance of the landscape, director Marc Evans said: “Our backdrop was the magnificent Lake District in all its majesty – I wanted those fells and lakes to seem far from 'safe' to this little exiled suburban family.

“I wanted Chris’s character to have a physical and mental relationship with the lake, it’s the place he swims to get physically strong, but it is also the place in which, during his solitary swims, he can think about the past.

“We loved being out in the British weather trying to capture the mood and atmosphere it can bring.

“It’s no coincidence that the Lake District was the landscape of choice for those dark, romantic poets and the hardiest of present day ramblers.”