A FORMER West Yorkshire detective and his wife, who turned crime fiction writers after retirement, are set to have their books serialised on television.

Bob and Carol Bridgestock are linking up with former Coronation Street producer Mervyn Watson in a bid to put their fictional detective character D.I. Jack Dylan on TV screens.

The couple, who write under the pen name R.C. Bridgestock, have signed a contract with The Gate Films, giving the company the TV rights to the D.I. Dylan series.

They are also working with Mr Watson, and BAFTA winning producer Claire Lewis, on the TV project.

The husband and wife crime writers were recently voted eighth best 'Crime and Thriller Authors of All Time' - ahead of PD James - in a WH Smith poll.

Mrs Bridgestock yesterday said it could take 18 months to bring the project together.

"We are looking for a scriptwriter and then we will start casting. We can't quite believe what is happening," she said.

"We signed the contract last week and they were all talking about the characters in the books. It was awesome!"

Mr Bridgestock rose to the rank of Detective Superintendent, taking charge of 26 murder cases, many in the Bradford area, and working on the Yorkshire Ripper inquiry. His wife worked as a civilian with West Yorkshire Police and the couple, who are originally from Brighouse, clocked up 47 years service with the force between them.

After retiring, the Bridgestocks enrolled on a 'Write Your First Novel' course. They are about to have the sixth novel published in the series and have also worked as consultants on storylines and police procedures on TV series Scott and Bailey and TV crime drama Happy Valley.

"Everybody's excited about it," added Mrs Bridgestock. "These are very exciting times for the D.I. Dylan series. The opportunity to work with Mervyn Watson, Claire Lewis, and the team at Gate Films is a giant step on Jack Dylan's journey and opens up what will be a wonderful series to a larger audience."

Mr Watson said: "It's not often that a sense of authenticity in crime fiction is so strong that you can almost smell it.

"It comes from the decades of experience in the CID that inform Bob and Carol's books. I am excited to be part of the development of D.I. Dylan and look forward to seeing it regularly at nine o'clock in the future."