Hailsham town crier Eddy Powell has taken a key role in a Jane Austen-styled TV docusoap.

Alas for Mr Powell, the role of recreating a Mr Darcy-style eligible bachelor went to someone else.

Instead, he played the housemaster's head groom in a reality TV docusoap that transported 16 contestants back to the early-19th Century Regency era.

The Channel 4 series Regency House Party, which is about to be broadcast, is set in the sprawling house and 156-acre grounds of Kentchurch Court in Hertfordshire.

One lucky man got to play the lord of the manor, a Mr Darcy-style character aiming to seduce and marry his favourite of the six young women staying at the house.

But viewers may discover the path of true love did not run smoothly, with five other men vying for attention and a team of officious chaperones to contend with.

Experts were called in to refurbish the lavish rooms, removing any evidence of 21st Century trappings, including the central heating.

The contenders were able to call upon the services of a band of servants, including Mr Powell.

He said: "I was one of the main characters, like the head steward. There were quite a few footmen but they never had a particular role in front of the cameras."

Mr Powell, of Western Road, Hailsham, spent three months filming and living on the site from June to August last year.

His main duties were to teach contestants horseriding, archery and taking care of their steeds.

He said: "There are certain sequences when they followed me putting horses to bed at night and doing the things particular to that time.

"I had to teach them the skills and in the last week I gave a demonstration on how it should be done."

Mr Powell rode for the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery before becoming a regular at the Herstmonceux Castle historical re-enactments, where he regularly organises events and stallholders.

Helping him teach the contestants side-saddle riding was Hilary Miles, who runs New Barn Farm stables in Milland, near Midhurst, and Ian Dowding, from Herstmonceux, who was also head chef at the house.

Ms Miles said: "They were surprisingly good at it. Some ladies had ridden before but one had never even sat on a bike. However, she took to side-saddle riding like a duck to water."

As head groom, Mr Powell was happy to sleep in a makeshift bed in the stables until a ghostly experience sent him fleeing the scene.

He said: "It was a woman or a young girl and she was just standing on the stairs. I just froze. I was in bed and couldn't get out the door because I had books and chairs blocking my way.

"She was there for about half an hour before she went away - or I fell asleep, I can't remember.

"I thought I must have dreamt it or it was a shadow but a week later the same thing happened again.

"Something woke me up and as I looked over I saw this figure on the stairs."

The ghost, which appeared several more times, never made a move towards Mr Powell.

However, he decided it was time to change lodgings and moved into a caravan.

The apparition was believed to be a 17-year-old maid who legend claimed fell pregnant by one of her lords and was locked in a stable in shame until she starved to death.

At 50, Mr Powell has no plans to hang up his saddle but admits it does take more out of him than it used to.

He said: "I love riding the way our forefathers did - without all that health and safety stuff.

"They rode with their sabres by their sides. If they had come off, they probably would have died but they were professional and that's what they counted on."

He is no stranger to screen appearances. As a technical extra he has appeared on horseback in Roman and Napoleonic costumes.

In the Oscar-winning movie Gladiator he was one of the Roman cavalrymen charging into battle against Germanic foes.

He expects to fly to Prague and Malta later in the year for more film work but until then will content himself with his day job - landscape gardening.

The series starts on Channel 4 on February 14.