HOPES of viewers seeing Martin Compston return as Line of Duty's Steve Arnott have been dashed for the time being as the show's creator has said there are "no plans" for a seventh series.

Jed Mercurio was appearing on BBC Breakfast to talk about a new graphic novel project he has produced called Sleeper.

The sixth season of the BBC police drama Line of Duty saw the finale draw more than 15 million viewers, making it the UK’s most-watched drama of the 21st century so far.

The season focused on revealing the identity of the mysterious H, a corrupt police officer at the head of a criminal conspiracy within the force.

WATCH: Martin Compston's joy as Scotland scores while filming Line of Duty

Mercurio said he was "taking stock" of what he is going to do next but said he had "lots of things possibly in the pipeline".

Pushed on whether his hit show might return for a seventh season, Mercurio said: "Well I think if Line of Duty fans propel Sleeper to the top of the bestseller charts, I think that will say that there's a desire for more of my work, so that might motivate me.

"Currently there are no plans, to answer that question seriously."

He went onto say that the Line of Duty team was "thrilled" by the response to season six of the show which 

Mercurio added: "If there was a way, we'd obviously look at that seriously but just being honest with you right now, we don't have a plan in place."

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Mercurio is also currently working on a new series called Trigger Point, which sees Line of Duty's Vicky McClure play a bomb disposal officer.

Scottish actor Compston (below) is set to appear in another BBC drama from the production company behind Line of Duty later this year.

The National: Martin Compston in Line of Duty. Picture: Chris Barr/BBC

Vigil finds the police in conflict with the Navy and the British security services after the mysterious disappearance of a Scottish fishing trawler and the death on-board the Trident nuclear submarine HMS Vigil.

Compston is also working on an Amazon Prime series called The Rig which was backed by £500,000 in Scottish Government funding.

Filming for the supernatural thriller, set on the fictional Kishorn Bravo oil rig, began earlier this year.