Keeley Hawes in taxi-driver mystery

ACTRESS Keeley Hawes has told of a "frightening" incident which took place on her way to the Belfast set of BBC drama Line Of Duty.

The Ashes To Ashes actress stars as Detective Inspector Lindsay Denton in the police drama.

But she said that she had to ask a real, high-ranking officer to look into what had happened after she flew into Belfast Airport last July.

Hawes, 37, told the Radio Times that when she entered the airport arrivals lounge she found a minicab driver carrying a white board with her name on it.

The man took her suitcase and began to lead her to his car and "I went happily along with him", Hawes said.

But she told the magazine: "We'd just walked through the sliding doors out of the airport when I looked over and saw a bunch of drivers from a big cab firm and there was another sign with my name on.

"The second one looked slightly more official. I said, 'Has there been a double booking?' The guy with my case said 'I don't know'. I said 'Well, who called you?'. He said 'I don't know'.

"Then he let go of my case and walked off."

Hawes, who is married to her former Spooks co-star Matthew Macfadyen, said: "I should have noticed something when I said hello and he said 'Oh, I was hoping you'd be blonde'.

"That's not something people normally say - I guess it's a bit creepy."

The next day Hawes told the BBC2 show's police adviser, an anonymous high-ranking officer.

She said: "He looked into it and put my mind at rest a bit.

"The police tracked the guy's numberplate through CCTV. So (the adviser) is a good guy to know, on and off set..."

Asked whether police had ever worked out what the incident was about, she said: "I don't know... it was a bit frightening."

By Sherna Noah, Press Association