A PHOTOGRAPHER who captured the moment Hollywood arrived in a seaside town is launching a book of her work.

Pam Ainsley captured all the action as sets and huge machinery arrived in Redcar, east Cleveland, last year, when part of the esplanade was transformed into wartime Dunkirk for the filming of Ian McEwan's bestseller Atonement.

Ms Ainsley visited Redcar three times during filming, taking pictures from people's living room windows, overlooking the set and the beach.

She said: "It was a fantastic experience to be able to view the making of the film and capture it from a different perspective on another kind of film.

"I knew that many of the 1,000 extras were from Redcar and the surrounding area, so I made a point of getting photographs of them."

The images have also received praise from the man behind the story himself, Ian McEwan.

He wrote to her and said: "These are lovely pictures, I wish you all success for the book."

After filming, Ms Ainsley went on to produce an eight-week exhibition at Kirkleatham Museum, Redcar.

The success of the exhibition prompted her to collate the images and produce a photographic album to "capture a moment of history" for the residents of Redcar. The book, priced £49.99, will be launched at Borders Book Store, Teesside Retail Park, Stockton, at 11am on Saturday, September 8.

Ms Ainsley will be in the store to sign copies.

The book will also be available at www.pamainsley.co.uk by the middle of next month.

The film will receive its regional premiere at the Regent Cinema, in Redcar, at 7pm on Wednesday, September 5.