BOLTON TV and film star Ian Aspinall will cap off a magnificent 12 months by making his first ever trip to the BAFTAs.

Hit film "East is East", in which Ian starred, is up for a host of awards, including Best Film.

It means for the first time in his life, former Tonge High School pupil Ian will attend the glitzy bash being held on Sunday at the Odeon Theatre in London.

Asked whether he'd be getting his top hat and tails sorted for the awards ceremony, Ian joked: "I don't know about that.

"I'll have to see what I can scrape together from my wardrobe."

"East is East" has been a smash hit throughout Britain and Europe and also received much critical acclaim in America.

But Ian hasn't even had time to bask in the success of the film because he's been working so hard.

Just before "East is East" was released at the cinemas, Ian began filming a third series of the hugely popular Manchester-based BBC police drama "City Central", in which he plays PC Colin Jitalda.

He said: "When you are filming a programme it tends to take over your life because you work such long days.

"We got Fridays and Saturdays off from filming City Central so I did do a bit of flying about to Sweden and Finland to promote the film, which was enjoyable because it was really exciting."

The BAFTAs invitation has capped off a tremendous year for Ian, whose career has gone into orbit.

He plays Nicer in the film "East is East", about an Asian family growing up in the 1970s.

And though he's hoping the film's success will lead to more screen roles, for now he's just happy to sit down for a minute.

He added: "It has been a hectic time. But I've just been on holiday in the Dominican Republic, which was nice because it gave me a chance to relax in the sun and it's a place I've never been to before.

"Now I'm back in England it's back to square one. But with City Central starting on TV next week I suppose the whole thing will start again. It would be nice to do some films but we'll have to wait and see."

And for City Central fans Ian promises that the new series will be as good as the others, a little more plot-based and more lighter moments.

One episode to watch out for is Ian's search for a lap dancer's missing snake. He won't reveal where it was found . . .

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.