RESIDENTS of Sedbergh will this weekend be visited by a group of strangers with whom they may form a twin-town relationship.

Three more groups of foreigners will visit the town in the coming weeks as part of a BBC television series which aims to let local people decide who they would best like to be twinned with.

A comprehensive programme of entertainment aimed at helping the locals and the visitors get to know each other is planned all that is needed is the involvement of Sedbergh residents.

The assistant producer of the series, entitled Twin Towns, is Zoe Russell-Stretten. She said this week: "We really hope the local people will turn out in force to make this a huge success.

"It's an amazing opportunity for the community and it should make great television. We plan to transmit the programmes early in 2005, early in the evening, on BBC2, so it will be a real showcase for Sedbergh."

Just which towns in Europe the four groups are coming from remains a secret for the time being.

"We will show what's really a video postcard in Sedbergh the day before the groups arrive, so that people will then know a bit more about the visitors and where they are from.

"We don't want to give it away too soon, because preconceived ideas might just spoil it," said Zoe.

"The postcard will only run for ten minutes so anyone can pop in and find out a bit more."

But there is a clue in the details of the planned programme.

One week, visitors to The Bull in Sedbergh will find a selection of German beers and bratwurst on the menu, while at Settlebeck High School, their children will be presided over by a German headmaster.

On another week, patients at the local doctors' surgery may be seen by an Italian GP, while The Dalesman pub serves up fresh-baked pizza and pasta dishes.

The video postcards will be shown in the People's Hall on Saturday, August 28, at 3pm and 5pm; on Sunday, September 5, at 1pm and 3pm; on Monday, September 13, at noon and 8pm; and on Saturday, September 25, at noon and 4.30pm.

Posters and leaflets throughout the town give details of the events that have been organised, and on Wednesday, October 6, comes the moment of truth when all the participating towns will gather together to hear the results of Sedbergh's choice of twin town.

A party, open to everyone, will be held to celebrate the links established between Sedbergh and all four towns.