FORMER Prestwich lad Matt Greenhalgh has gone from tea boy on the set of Hollyoaks to writing the BBC's latest flagship drama.

The 30-year-old, who had the dubious honour of being the first tea boy and runner employed on the set of the teen drama, is now lined up for red hot success.

He has penned Burn It, a 10-part series which is at the forefront of the launch of the new digital channel, BBC3.

Part of the series was filmed in Prestwich, where Matt lived until recently. He hails from Sandy Way, Carr Clough, lived until recently.

And although it may be a far cry from his days of making tea and running errands, Matt says what he learned about script writing in those early days has proved invaluable.

The drama, starring Mel B, Lisa Faulkner, of Holby City and Brookside fame, and Little Lever teenage actor Dale Peters started this week as part of BBC 3's launch.

Matt has also co-written an episode of the new Cold Feet series, and has been shortlisted for a BAFTA award for an episode he wrote for popular drama series, Clocking Off.

He is now preparing to write a second series of Burn It, has one eye on directing an episode or two, and has a deal to write something for Working Titles, one of the country's biggest film companies.

While Matt now lives in Lostock, Bolton, and was educated in Kersal and Manchester, his Prestwich roots figure prominently in the show.

Matt said: "A lot of the locations, like St Mary's Park, figured in the writing because Prestwich is where I have so many memories.

"I learned a lot about life during my time there. The experiences I picked up for Burn It in particular, were far more valuable than those I could have got sitting in a classroom."

Matt first began writing about Manchester's nightlife for a magazine, but soon changed his mind about wanting to develop a career in journalism. Instead, he got his job making tea on the set of Hollyoaks, in the teen soap's early days.

He said: "After a few years I got to the point where I was understanding scripts and what was needed from them."

As a result, Matt wrote a film script, as yet not made. But it was this script which helped find him work. His first commission was for Clocking Off. And the rest is history . . .

Describing Burn It, he said: "It follows a bunch of mates who had the best time of their lives in the 1990s, but then follows what happens next. The youth of the 90s have not been represented much on television at all. And a series like this has not been done in half-hour episodes before, but I think it works well. Hopefully within the 30 minutes, it will keep people glued to the screen."