The East Lancashire Road will close over three nights to become a set for a new TV thriller about illegal street racing – and residents have been offered earplugs by the producers to drown out revving engines and screeching tyres.

Households near the stretch of the A580 involved have received letters warning ‘stunt driving’ scenes at high speeds will be filmed, alongside the use of special effects.

Curfew – an eight-part series due to air on Sky One next year – is being billed as a ‘full throttle’ thriller featuring Game of Thrones star Sean Bean, Billy Zane and Robert Glenister.

Police officers, and a qualified armourer, will be on site due to the use of ‘prop’ firearms and a drone will fly over the location to capture the ‘fast-paced action’ during filming, which will take place at night. The closures will be in force from 8pm until 6am, starting next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Production company Tiger Aspect Productions say in the letters: “Throughout the filming nights there are several different sequences to our filming that play out at different positions on the A580. Our aim is to schedule the noisier scenes as early as possible in the evening in order to lessen any impact that the noise of our vehicles creates.

“Please note that for any residents concerned about this noise we would like to extend the offer of providing earplugs. While we appreciate our presence may have some impact on the local community, please be assured that we are working tirelessly to minimise any disruption as much as possible.”

Two GMP officers, the letters state, will be on set each day for the ‘entirety of the filming’ to ‘oversee the actions’ because of the use of imitation firearms.

Permission has been granted provisionally for road and footpath closures in the Lowton area of Wigan, between the junction of Newton Road – the A572 near the Texaco garage – and the A579, the junction to Leigh. The area is largely rural, with fields on either sides, but there are pockets of housing and farm buildings.

Wigan council is said to be aware and a traffic management company will be used, with manned and signed diversions in place, although the details haven’t been revealed.

Curfew, set in a ‘near-future’ environment, follows the course of an illegal night-time car race, with drivers battling to cross a finish line by sunrise.

“A virus is turning citizens into deadly creatures and the only hope of escaping this society is to win the race,” a synopsis on the letters says.