Ghosts will be back for a fourth series, the BBC has confirmed.

Star Katy Wix let the news slip in an interview last month, and now Corporation bosses have finally made it official.

Six new episodes will air next year on BBC One with Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) and Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) trying to make a success of the haunted Button House B&B.

The third series of the comedy launched in summer of this year with 4.3million viewers watching the first episode - the biggest audience of the regular series to date.

It was also popular with young viewers, claiming the biggest audience for a comedy among four to 15-year-olds, a success that might be attributed to the creators’ previous success with Horrible Histories.

The writers Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond all play ghosts in the series, alongside Lolly Adefope.

Ghosts’ executive producer, Alison Carpenter of Monumental Television, said: ‘It’s wonderful to see audiences enjoying Ghosts more with every series. We can’t wait to get back to Button House with our incredibly talented team of writers, cast and crew to bring a fourth series to the screen."

Jon Petrie, the BBC’s director of comedy added:’Ghosts is a true jewel in BBC comedy’s crown, and we’re delighted to be working again with the cast and creators, and Monumental, who never fail to deliver a faultless combination of big laughs and loads of heart.’

In November, Wix, who plays Mary in the sitcom, broke the news of series 4 to rapper Scroobius Pip on his Distraction Pieces podcast.

When asked about her future projects, she said: ‘Ghosts. Am I allowed to say that? I’m always getting into trouble. I get into trouble all the time for announcing things when they haven’t been announced. That starts in January.’

An American remake of the show starring Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar is currently airing on the CBS network where it regularly attracts more than 5.5million viewers.

All previous episodes of the UK version of Ghosts are available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.

Made by: Monumental Television production in association with Them There
Producer: Pat Tookey-Dickson
Executive producers: Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond, Alison Carpenter, Debra Hayward and Alison Owen.
Commissioning editor: Gregor Sharp.