TV PRODUCER Jimmy McGovern has confirmed that he will not be making any more series of the acclaimed Manchester-based drama The Street.

The Bafta award-winning drama, which is made by ITV but broadcast on BBC1, began its third series on Monday but McGovern said there will not be a fourth.

He said the programme has fallen victim to cuts made by ITV's Manchester drama department and claimed that the broadcaster decided it was not making enough money.

McGovern said in an interview on BBC Radio 4: "It's so sad - one of the best dramas ITV has ever made and it's gone."

He said that he has decided not to try to keep the drama going by having it made by another producer.

He said: "I wouldn't want to, it belonged there (at ITV Studios). All the people have gone. You live and breathe with people you walk into busy rooms and see people working hard, the casting, the make up, the wardrobe even the receptionists, and the next minute they are all gone."

McGovern said the cuts at Manchester's drama department may have contributed to the departure of ITV executive chairman Michael Grade, who had been tasked with reviving the fortunes of the commercial broadcaster.

He said: "It's finished now because ITV have closed down that drama unit. I am sure that's why Michael Grade left because it was a content-led revival, he said, and they have closed down the producers of the best content."

The Street features stories about the residents of one street and is filmed on location in Rock Street, Higher Broughton, and other parts of Salford and Manchester.

It has won two International Emmy Awards and took the Bafta for Best Drama Series for the second year running last year.

Quote - It's finished now because ITV have closed down that drama unit
Jimmy McGovern

The third series continues the show's record of attracting the cream of British acting talent, with Timothy Spall, Bob Hoskins, Ruth Jones and Anna Friel among the cast.

ITV is planning to make 600 staff redundant in London, Manchester and Leeds.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said: "This is a decision Jimmy McGovern has taken as a result of recent changes at Granada. We respect that decision and we are currently in talks with him about future developments. We are very proud to be screening the third and final series of The Street, which started last night with 5 million viewers tuning in."