WHILE her friends trudged into school each day last term, teenager Katie Griffiths was working in a very different classroom - on the set of a major new television drama.

Katie, 17, from Kildwick, has a lead role in a BBC1 drama series, Waterloo Road, which starts this month and is billed as a rival to Coronation Street.

Described as Grange Hill meets Teachers, the eight-part series is set in a failing comprehensive school and follows the attempts of staff and pupils to turn it around after the headteacher quits.

Created by the team behind Footballers' Wives, it stars Jason Merrells and Angela Griffin who acted alongside each other in BBC1's hairdressing drama Cutting It.

The cast also includes former Coronation Star star Denise Welch, who starred alongside Merrells in The Jealous God, a film based on a novel by Bingley writer John Braine which was shot in and around Bradford.

In Waterloo Road, Katie plays the daughter of a teacher, played by former Eastenders actress and last year's Strictly Come Dancing winner Jill Halfpenny.

"My character is called Chlo, she's 14 and feisty but very emotional deep down," said Katie. "Her parents have split up and she's close to her mum who's a teacher at the school. Chlo is a pupil there.

"We filmed in a Rochdale school which had been closed for a couple of years.

"It was quite a heavy schedule, sometimes we didn't finish until 2am so I stayed in a hotel in Manchester.

"It was a fantastic experience. It was great working with such a strong cast, they didn't hesitate to help if I needed it. I also learned about the technical side of filming."

Katie, who has always wanted to be an actress, beat more than 200 other hopefuls for the role.

"I got called back to a third audition in August, was offered the part and filming started the next day!" she said. "It's my first TV role. It's all been a whirlwind, but I'm keeping my feet on the ground.

"It's going to be a high profile show and there's already talk of a second series. It's really exciting."

An A-level student at South Craven School in Cross Hills, Katie took her schoolwork to the set.

"I did some of it in my dressing room. On the days when I wasn't filming I went to school," she said.

Now her ambition is to secure a place at drama school.