ON Thursday, members of the public were intrigued to find out what all the commotion in the town was about, especially as the day before many wondered why the NatWest building had been washed and scrubbed, writes Amelia Chubb.
This was because Yipp Films — who came with an almighty crew and van loads of equipment to Launceston's Westgate Street — were filming part of an ongoing advertising campaign for NatWest Business Banking.
The company had been filming the progress of a NatWest Bank manager for five days across many different NatWest branches in Cornwall, including Wadebridge and Launceston.
Part of the campaign had been focussing on the business element of the banking and the producer of the advertising film said that they had looked at "a large variety" of local businesses in Cornwall.
Due to the equipment that had been set up for shots to be taken both inside and outside the bank, this caused quite a stir amongst members of the public who continually stopped, asked questions and commented on the filming, with crew members quite happy to answer any questions.
One lady said: "Can I be in it?" and received a courteous but firm 'no' in response.
Whilst the Yipp crew set up the equipment, PCSO Steve Edser briefly stopped to ensure that everything was all right, he said: "We are not expecting any disruptions, however, I have provided the crew with contact details for the Devon and Cornwall Police if anything should happen."
After a lengthy set up and a great deal of waiting around (what action?), the filming for the advert finally began.
Firstly, inside the bank and then around 45 minutes later, shots were taken outside the front of the bank on Westgate Street. By this time, many members of the public were waiting to see some action.
Joan Venner, a local resident of Launceston, who watched the filming commented on the activities:
"I have never seen anything like this before, it is quite a big thing for Launceston.
"Whilst I was stood at the bottom of Race Hill, this is when I first saw the film crew and then as I came up from the town they were outside the bank."
Anne Parsons who was passing through Westgate Street said: "It is quite amazing really."
Yipp Films were in the town for most of the day until 4pm and the actors being filmed were said to be from Truro.