Chart-toppers The Script dropped into Abbey Wood and Thamesmead to shoot their latest music video. Reporter ALAN WOODS finds out why they chose this area.

THEY may be used to playing in front of festival crowds, but the Irish trio took to the stage at the Birchwood pub in Grovebury Road For the First Time to shoot part of their new video Millionaires.

Filming for the video saw an eight-hour shoot take in several locations, including shots overlooking Southmere Lake and in the playground at Abbey Wood Park.

Guitarist Mark Sheehan and drummer Glen Power were both in town for filming, although lead singer of The Voice fame Danny O’Donoghue was unable to make it.

Video producer James Young, who runs production company Nice&Polite, told News Shopper why the band chose Thamesmead and Abbey Wood.

The 33-year-old said: "Paul Banks, the director, was looking for something that didn’t necessarily say London but he wanted a place where a group of young adults, not kids, could grow up with in a community but where there is not that much to do.

"He initially wanted to shoot in the north. He was keen on avoiding anything that said ‘this is London.’ "It is very gritty and urban here and there is lots of concrete so you do get a sense these are city kids."

Millionaires, which is released this month and comes from the bands third album Three, is about young adults making the most of and enjoying a simple lifestyle.

Mr Young said: "It was important to get across that these kids were big fish in a very small pond.

"If they were in London they are not anybody because there is a mass of people.

"We wanted to give it a sense that it is small enough to recognise people."

"When they come into the pub everyone knows them."

Shots in the video - which was filmed on June 9 - include a boy giving a girl a jelly ring, which turns into a real ring, and a group drinking Guinness that then morphs into champagne.

A cover band performs the song but the video ends with Danny, Glenn and Mark on stage performing.

'They had Sunday lunch in the restaurant'

News Shopper: The Birchwood.

James Young said the Birchwood pub was the perfect choice for filming.

Landlady Jane Bannon said staff were "very excited" when they found out the band was going to visit.

The 63-year-old told News Shopper: "The location director called in and said they were looking for a pub and we just fit the bill.

"On the day, they came in about 4pm and sent about 20 of them down.

"They had Sunday lunch in the restaurant and started filming some external shots about 5pm."

News Shopper: A

Mrs Bannon added: "They kept it quiet because they were hoping Danny would be here.

"They were worried it was going to be a bit excitable."

Speaking about the Birchwood, producer Mr Young said: "The sign was one of the main things about the pub.

"It was so bright and neon and it felt very local. It wasn’t a chain or a trendy hip London pub.

"It was very much like a working man’s club. We wanted to look slightly dated. It looked real."