ACTOR Ricky Tomlinson has dug into his pocket to pay three furious cast members of a film made four years ago.

The Scouse star sent £100 each to three extras from the film, who had written to him complaining that they had not been paid.

Tomlinson starred in Nasty Neighbours, the debut feature film from Newcastle-based Ipso Facto, which was filmed on locations in North Tyneside, including the beach at Whitley Bay, and the Spanish City.

Premiered in Venice and hailed as a great success, the film picked up a best actor award for Tomlinson at the Stockholm Film Festival.

Tomlinson, who also stars in The Royle Family, said: "They wrote to me to say that they had not been paid, so I just sent them £100 each.

"To say you can have a part in a film but are not going to get paid for it unless it makes money is like saying to people to go down the mines and telling them they will only get paid if they bring back coal."

George Rowe, 73, from Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham, is furious about how he and the other extras have been treated.

Mr Rowe, who has appeared in several locally produced programmes such as Grafters, Our Friends in the North, and Crocodile Shoes, said he has always been paid.

He said: "They could not have made the film without us, yet they have treated us so badly and we have not even been thanked. We were absolutely used and I am furious."

Steve Bowdon, from the production team of Nasty Neighbours, said the extras will not get paid because the film has not made a profit.

He said: "All the extras were made to sign a deferred payment agreement and I think people have misunderstood that agreement.

"The film has not made a profit and even people like myself, who invested quite considerable sums, have not received anything either."