IT’S not often we get TV celebrities filming in the area.

And for fans of a certain BBC programme, it was a dream come true when the stars of Top Gear came to Bournemouth and Christchurch yesterday.

Unfortunately, James May couldn’t be there. But residents had fun spotting controversial presenter Jeremy Clarkson and his colleague Richard Hammond.

They were seen in the One Stop shop in Barrack Road, Christchurch and at the Club Grand Bingo in Poole Road, Westbourne.

Love it or loathe it, Top Gear makes absolute shed loads for the BBC coffers. It’s said to be the world’s most widely watched factual television programme with 170 countries tuning in.

So the good news for this area is that whatever they were filming on Thursday will be seen by anything up to 350 million viewers.

And that may translate into a tourism boost for the county, which won’t have cost the region a penny.