by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Families watching films and television this Christmas may well catch glimpses of Kent after four years of lights, camera, action produced £14 million for the economy.

This year - the fourth since the Kent Film Office began promoting the county as a great place for location shooting - Kent and Medway hosted a wide range of features, shorts and advertisements.

David Jason was in Dover for Albert's Memorial, Alan Davies in Canterbury for Teenage Revolution, Sean Bean and Danny Dyers in Gravesend for Age of Heroes.

A new Poirot was filmed at St Margaret's Bay, near Dover. The Inbetweeners featured shots in Dartford.

Walkers crisps ads were shot in Sandwich, Rochester and Chatham Historic Dockyard, while supermarket giant Morrisons filmed its Christmas advert in the Stood store.

Past successes include Emma, featuring Michael Gambon, Is Anybody There, starring Michael Caine, and The Other Boleyn Girl, with Scarlett Johansson, screened on television last night.

Kent is the only authority outside London to have legal powers to close roads for filming.

The first road closure was in Hawkinge in October for A Week with Marilyn.

Over the past four years, film production has pumped £14m into the local economy, benefiting a wide range of local services, hotels, pubs and restaurants.

Kent County Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Kevin Lynes said: "It's been a fantastic year for filming in Kent.

"The film industry is so important for the Kent economy and we're absolutely committed to nurturing the industry and making our county a national and international contender for filming."