Ross Kemp filming TV documentary in Preston and Lancaster

The documentary filmmaker and former Eastenders star paid a visit to a caravan park near Garstang on Wedneday (October 18) and was later spotted interviewing people in Cock Robin Lane, Catterall.

The 59-year-old actor was also seen behind the wheel of a black Volvo driving around the St Michaels and Scorton areas, and was later pictured at Moss Wood Caravan Park near Cockerham.

It’s not known exactly what TV series he was filming, but we think there might be a clue in the places he and his crew visited.

Kemp is known for his award-winning documentary series investigating gang culture around the world – so what’s the connection with the sleepy, picturesque villages of rural north Preston?

Well, believe it or not, Cock Robin Lane in Catterall was the unlikely Lancashire hideaway of an Italian mafia boss.

Preston's ‘friendly neighbourhood Mafia godfather’

Therefore it’s likely that Kemp is filming a new documentary about Gennaro Panzuto – Preston's ‘friendly’ neighbourhood Mafia godfather.

Now aged 48, Panzuto is currently behind bars in a maximum security prison in northern Italy.

But back in 2006, the mob boss fled his hometown of Naples for the sleepy rural pastures of Preston, where he hid out at Six Arches Caravan Park next to the River Wyre before moving into a semi-detached home in Cock Robin Lane, just a few miles from Garstang.

Bizarrely, during his stay in Lancashire, Panzuto was known as a friendly face in the community and his only crime appears to have been falling behind with his rent on his four-bedroomed house.

His landlord, Tony Dodd, who was owed £1,100, said: "He was two months behind on the rent. Now I know who he really is, it's a good job in hindsight that I didn't threaten him."

Panzutio was eventually tracked down by Italian investigators and turned supergrass. He was arrested at his home in Catterall in May 2007 and extradited back to Italy where he confessed to murder and his part in a bloody turf war which led to dozens of deaths in his native Naples.

You can read our full story on Gennaro Panzuto and his stay in Preston here.