The Burnley Magic Lantern Club has announced that the next Season of The Walking Dead will be filmed in an Asda store in Burnley.

Benny Arkwright, president of BMLC: “This will be the first non benefits related production in 17 years, so we’re very excited. Apparently, their producers were looking to freshen up the show and decided that the majesty of Burnley was what was required”.

Speaking from Hollywood, a representative of the production team explained the decision.

“The show was beginning to lack the real terror that we captured in the early seasons of The Walking Dead and a chance meeting in rehab led us to look at this new location for Season 9. When they visited the location our scouts thought the locals had put on a special demonstration of what would be on offer in Burnley if we shifted production, but it turned out it was a regular day at Asda with an offer on White Lightning cider. The riot that followed really sold it to us.

From a cost perspective, the savings on zombie makeup and training and creating a post apocalyptic set are enormous. Actually, we had to rebuild large sections of the town just to make scenes believable.”

There were some challenges however; the extras insisted they were paid in lottery scratch cards and several key members of the cast have left the show following the announcement.

“Sure, that was a setback. With so many of the cast from the UK, when we said it was Burnley, we thought they’d be thrilled.”