THE story of life on the Western Front during the First World War has been told on national television — with the help of an Accrington teenager.

BBC One mini-series The Passing Bell was aired at 7pm daily in the five nights leading up to Armistice Day.

The British-Polish drama charts the horrors faced by the young men on both the British and German sides of the trenches and the monumental losses experienced by all, and starred local lad Brian Fletcher.

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The 18-year-old played an underage soldier who signs up for King and country but soon suffers the traumatic effects of long-term conflict, relying on one of the protagonists, Tommy, to cope.

Brian, a former student at Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School in Oswaldtwistle, has also recently filmed for the upcoming BBC One series Ordinary Lies and ITV drama Home Fires, despite only starting to take acting seriously two years ago.

He said: "It's something I have always wanted to do and it's something I've worked hard to do. I got my agent through my drama school, and I auditioned in London for The Passing Bells and got the part.

"When I arrived in Poland to film, all the lads were from Wales and London, and asked me where I was from. I said Accrington and asked if they'd heard of it.

"Every single one of them said yes and that they'd heard of the Accrington Pals. It made me feel proud to be from the town, especially when I was doing something so involved with the First World War."

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Brian is a member of Mark Hudson's Manchester School of Acting and is currently filming for the role of Little Stan in Jambusters, an ITV series set in Cheshire during the Second World War.

The teen, who still lives in the town, starred in his school production of Mamma Mia in 2012.

One of his former teachers, Linda Hopkins, said on the school's website: "The Passing Bells is a great drama, really thought-provoking. Brian said that working in Poland in actual battle-sites has made this time of year even more poignant for him.

"Before he left Rhyddings, Brian gave me his autograph because he hoped that one day he'd be famous. I stuck it up on the wall in the stockroom.

"How brilliant that one of our students is living in a dream coming true."

The Passing Bells mini-series was commissioned as part of the BBC's programming to mark the centenary of the First World War.

The series, given an average user rating of 7.4 out of 10 on IMDb.com, can be watched on demand through the BBC's iPlayer service.