SWOONING fitness fanatics at a York gym nearly fell of their exercise bikes when movie superstar Johnny Depp walked in.

But the hunky figure at Next Generation, off Hull Road, turned out to be a Depp look-a-like, who was accompanied by producers to find somewhere for the star to stay in shape if he comes to York to film.

The Evening Press recently revealed that Nestl Rowntree's Wigginton Road plant was being lined up as a location for a new version of Roald Dahl's classic book, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.

Depp has signed up to play Willy Wonka in the film, which will be directed by Tim Burton, whose past triumphs include Batman and Edward Scissorhands.

Next Generation manager Sally Frisby said the look-a-like had been hired to do some tester shots with a camera crew outside the Nestle factory and then visited the gym to see if it would be suitable to keep Johnny's biceps toned.

"If Johnny does film in York they will need somewhere for him to exercise, so they checked us out," she said.

"He would be very welcome to train here."

We previously revealed that nine executives from the movie's producers, Warner Brothers, had flown to the Nestle factory on a private jet to meet managers to discuss using it as a possible location.

A spokesman for Nestl Rowntree said negotiations were still on-going with the producers about the site being used in the film.

Updated: 10:21 Saturday, May 01, 2004