Terry Beaumont has put the old quarry in the village of Cumberworth, near Holmfirth, on the market and it is to be sold at auction. Mr Beaumont originally purchased the land 15 years ago when he lived on a neighbouring farm in order to fence it off and keep illegal motorbike riders out.

It had been used as a filming location by the BBC since 1973, when Last of the Summer Wine first aired, and the arrangement continued with Mr Beaumont's permission right up until the programme's run ended in 2010.

The one-third-of-an-acre site eventually ended up as the most-used location in the comedy's history and featured in the final episode.

The old quarry site near Holmfirth is now overgrown

Although agents WM Sykes are expected to sell it to bidders at The Huntsman Inn in Holmfirth on July 5, Mr Beaumont is open to offers prior to this date and has now received an expression of interest from a fans' group who are keen to preserve the land.

The Yorkshire sheep farm that became Britain's highest vineyard

"It's never had a proper name. Quarrying ended there a long time ago, and it belonged to Kirklees Council, who then passed it to the parish council and it was sold along with 12 other parcels of land at auction. I bought it to keep illegal 4x4 drivers and motorbike riders off it, and they continued to film around my farm.

"The film crew would come and apologise for disturbing us but nobody objected - though it was sometimes a bit awkward when they were making snow in August!

"It was the backdrop to a lot of episodes, and if you go on fans' websites you can identify it immediately.

"I've had interest already from the fan club - it is a piece of history for them and they want to leave it as it is, maybe put a bench or two there so people can take in the views. I'm not expecting big numbers from the sale."

Last of the Summer Wine fans considering buying Yorkshire quarry which was used as a filming location