Line Of Duty fans spot ‘bent cop’ Buckells is The Inbetweeners barman who refused to serve Will in classic scene

LINE Of Duty fans have dug up DS Ian Buckells' mysterious past - he used to be the barman in The Inbetweeners.

Brummie Nigel Boyle, who plays the slippery character, appeared in the first episode of the sitcom refusing to serve Will McKenzie.

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In one of the show's most iconic scenes, the barman won't pour Will four pints of lager without handing over any ID to prove how old he is.

However - just like suspected bad-apple Buckells - he didn't mind breaking the law, having just served an entire room of under-18s.

Will roars: "Just look around you - everyone in this bloody pub is underage" to a huge groan from everyone in there.

Nigel's character replies: "Right, we're closed. Everyone out."

One fan wrote last night: "As if Ian Buckells from Line of Duty is the barman in the first ever episode of the Inbetweeners."

Another wrote: "From not serving Will MacKenzie to getting nicked of AC12, DS Ian Buckells 👏👏."

Last night, viewers saw Buckells being hauled in for questioning, with him uttering the immortal line: "This is b*****ks. Total b****rd b*****ks."

However, many felt he would't turn out to be the criminal mastermind AC-12 are hoping he might be.

One fan wrote: "Superintendent Buckells is a red herring IMO, he’s too much of a blockhead to be involved in anything more than the bare minimum effort to get by in his day job.

"Not into the detail and tends to delegate the difficult tasks to Jo, hence him getting framed so easily."

The character has been seen recently swinging golf clubs around his corner office, hinting at a link to another Line of Duty stooge - The Caddy.

Nigel has popped up in a string of popular programmes including The Enfield Haunting, Peaky Blinders and as Russell Wade in Doctors.