NO shortage of police attention was paid to writer Paul Abbott’s East Lancashire estate when he was growing up — and now he’s having a stab at his own police drama.

And the Burnley-born writer has revealed he was looking for a concept which would match the scope of his signature series Shameless, inspired by his formative years on the Stoops Estate, when he was pulling together the new Channel 4 comedy drama No Offence.

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His crack team of rough-round-the-edges cops may be unconventional but they wear their hearts on their sleeves as Abbott looks to break the mould in a new genre.

Drug labs, neo-Nazis and murders are stock-in-trade for the squad, who pit their wits against a twisted serial killer before the series, which begins today, is over.

Abbott said: “No Offence came after searching for a concept that would match a Shameless landscape, which is enormous. I love cop shows, I love comedies, and nobody has found a blended set of ingredients that make that work and feel like the cop series I wanted to make.”

Joanna Scanland, of The Thick of It, heads up his dysfunctional unit as DI Vivienne Deering, ably supported by DC Dinah Kowalska, played by Elaine Cassidy, and newly-promoted DS Joy Freers, played by Alexandra Roach from Utopia.

And the likes of Will Mellor of Broadchurch and Hollyoaks fame, Paul Ritter and Colin Salmon have recurring roles as they try to get a handle on their crazed multiple killer.

“In No Offence I have created a family of professionals. Writing a family like I did in Shameless is one thing, but to write a family out of a bunch of strangers I think is my forte,” said Abbott.

He accepts that most scenarios have been tackled more than once, but he is sure his spin on the world of detection and dereliction, and some strong female leads, will tempt viewers to stick with the eight hour-long instalments.