LINE OF DUTY actor Martin Compston has revealed that balaclava-clad Line of Duty actors were mistaken for members of the IRA while filming in West Belfast in 2020.

The Glaswegian actor who plays Detective Inspector Steve Arnott in the hit show told how a resident knocked on the window of the car which contained actors wearing balaclavas (who were to be arrested by Compston's character in the scene) and alerted them to the police waiting for them up the road, who turned out to be Compston and fellow actor Vicky McClure.

The scene in question was filmed on Beechmount Avenue, colloquially named 'RPG Avenue', after the rocket-propelled grenade was fired by the IRA in the street during the conflict.

The Scottish actor, speaking on the Shane Todd 'Tea With Me' podcast, said: “We were doing the last of the raid scenes, where me and Vicky (McClure) catch the balaclava men.

“We were up somewhere — RPG Alley or something you call it. We are the cops and we are waiting at the ambush bit, and there is a Land Rover full of balaclava men down the street.

"Then somebody came out the door and said, ‘Lads, watch, the cops are down there’.

"It’s another world, but it’s people’s lives, and if it’s what you grew up with, it’s kind of normal isn’t it?" he added.

The Line of Duty stars, which includes Irish actor Adrian Dunbar, received praise two years ago when they purchased a complete set of new football kits for the Belfast Celtic's Young Men and Ladies football team.

During filming in West Belfast Adrian Dunbar also toured the James Connolly Visitor Centre on the Falls Road.