BLEARY eyed and craving coffee an urban film crew rolled into a sleepy South Lakeland village this week to track a celebrated milkman for the day.

The three-man crew from London were filming a mini-documentary about the role of the milkman in England for ARD – the German equiv-alent of the BBC.

And National Milkman of the year David Knipe, of Levens, fresh from his 3am wake up call, was ready to greet them and show them just how it’s done.

Mr Knipe who was featured in last week’s Westmorland Gazette, said: “They were with me all day. They wanted to see exactly what was involved. When they arrived seeing them running round and slowly waking up was very funny.” And by all accounts the cameraman, soundman and producer were quite taken by the Lake District.

“Every time they stopped they were outside breathing in the fresh air. By the end of the day they knew me and my family and they had seen everything about the business. They were gob-smacked by just what is involved. They were absolutely shattered but they really had enjoyed it.” Mr Knipe said the limelight was just part and parcel of being milkman of the year and educating as many people as possible about his line of work.

“I love my job and everything I said when they interviewed me came from the heart,” he said.

Freelance TV producer Toby Stokes said: “Blimey that man works hard! I think he took great delight in showing us poor city boys how it is done. The day went really well because David is such a friendly, helpful guy.” Mr Stokes explained that German families do not have milkmen to deliver their morning pinta so TV bosses were keen to explain the custom to their viewers.

The short documentary is set to be screened within the next few weeks. It will only be available in Germany.