BBC Three has commissioned two new sitcom pilots from its Manchester-based Comedy North project.

One, The Visit, has been written by stand-up Tony Burgess and is set in a low-security prison.

It revolves around a group of petty crooks and the friends and family who visit them each week. Filming starts next month, for broadcast later in the year.

The other sitcom, The Flat, is simply about two twentysomething flatmates, played by comics Tom Price and Rufus Hound a regular Top Of The Pops presenter, pictured.

The script has been written by Dean Wilkinson, whose credits include the Friends spoof from Ant and Dec's SMTV: Live, Chums. But this pilot will not be for broadcast, according to MediaGuardian.

Under a deal with outgoing BBC Three controller, Stuart Murphy, Comedy North will produce two pilots a year through to 2008.

Another BBC Comedy North show, I'm With Stupid, about the relationship with a homeless man and his disabled friend, goes into production later this month; while a second run of the  Johnny Vegas drug-dealer sitcom Ideal, also produced by the unit, will air on BBC Three soon.