North Weald is to star in a television mini-series produced by DreamWorks, the movie moguls behind the Hollywood blockbuster Saving Private Ryan.

Key scenes from the planned film, to be called Band of Brothers, are to be filmed at the village's historic airfield.

The 11-hour series is being masterminded by DreamWorks SKG, the company founded by Steven Spielberg, Oscar-winning director of Private Ryan.

Tom Hanks, who starred in the film which won five Academy Awards, is also an executive producer.

A British production unit is already at work in Hatfield, in Hertfordshire, and the movie bandwagon is expected to roll into North Weald in May.

The unit will be based at the airfield for about a month but filming will probably be completed in a week.

The former Battle of Britain HQ was chosen because of its location, facilities and the availability of aircraft.

It is a coup for Intrepid, the aviation company based at Hangar 3, which helped to woo the Spielberg outfit to the council-owned airfield.

Intrepid managing director Brendan Walsh said: "This is marvellous for us and a great boost for North Weald.

"We spend a lot of time and money attracting film companies and this is our biggest production yet.

"It goes to show that in these uncertain times for the airfield when there is a great debate over its future, top companies are still heavily influenced by its rich aviation heritage which we are trying to preserve."

Civic chiefs are assessing the impact of filming on North Weald but say that "potentially it could be a very exciting venture for the council".

Band of Brothers, which will premiere on the American movie channel Home Box Office next year, was brought to the village after extensive negotiations with the government, British Aerospace and the British Film Commission.

Culture Secretary Chris Smith said: "We're absolutely delighted that the production is to be here.

"A very great deal of effort by my department, the Ministry of Defence and No 10 has meant that we've been able to give all the necessary support to see this vital production come to the UK."

Spielberg said: "England is a wonderful place to make films and as the experience of making Saving Private Ryan made clear to us all, it is an ideal place to make this ambitious mini-series about World War II."

Band of Brothers, based on Stephen Ambrose's acclaimed best seller, tells the story of an elite American airborne rifle company which parachuted into France early on D-Day and captured Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden.

Sequences to be shot at North Weald are set in the nervous days before the Normandy invasion and will involve the use of surviving models of the old USAF workhorse, the Douglas DC3 Dakota.

Intrepid, in the forefront of the battle to keep flying at the airfield, has already been responsible for scenes from television hits Kavanagh QC, starring John Thaw and Daylight Robbery, featuring Michelle Collins, being shot there.

Adverts for Audi, BMW and United Airlines have also been filmed at North Weald.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.