Line of Duty series 5 and 6 confirmed by BBC

Writer Jed Mercurio revealed that new episodes won't reach screens until 2019

Line of Duty will return for an additional sixth series on top of the already confirmed fifth run, the BBC has confirmed.

The channel's director-general Tony Hall revealed the news on Thursday evening (4 May).

Fans will no doubt be uproarious by this news following the crime procedural's gripping series finale last Sunday (30 April).

Line of Duty follows the fictional AC-12, a police anti-corruption SQUAD led by superintendant Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar), DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) and DS Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure).

Each series focuses on a new character to be investigated by the team, the latest being Thandie Newton's DCI Roz Huntley whose investigation gripped over eight million viewers.

Creator Jed Mercurio can now focus on getting the fifth series written having stated he was concerned to continue without knowing the show's future was cemented.

Earlier this year, he told RadioTimes.com: “I have got an idea of how things will conclude or, more accurately, the kind of story we need to get into for that to be dramatised. Whereas if I know series five is not the last series then I have other ideas that are more standalone in terms of what the story is.”

Still, it seems fans have a long time to wait before new episodes air with Mercurio confirming series five won't make it to BBC One until 2019.