Author who inspired Heartbeat television series dies
- Published
The proud Yorkshireman wrote more than 100 books
The author who wrote the books that inspired the long-running TV series Heartbeat has died aged 80.
Peter Walker, a former policeman who wrote under the pen name Nicholas Rhea, lived at Ampleforth in North Yorkshire.
His daughter, Tricia, said her father's cancer had returned two weeks ago and he died at home on Friday.
His Constable series of books inspired the Yorkshire Television production, set in the 1960s, which ran between 1992 and 2010.
The programme followed the life of a young police officer transferred from London to the North York Moors.
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Ms Walker said on her Facebook, external page that her father had died surrounded by his family in the home he had lived in for 50 years.
She wrote he was a "Yorkshireman to the end".
His funeral will take place at Our Lady's & St Benedict's Church, Ampleforth on Friday.