A GROUP of amateur film-makers are hoping to hit the big time with a horror movie set in their home town.

The 12-strong crew have been filming in Thirsk and the surrounding area with a cast of about 12 actors for the past ten days.

Yesterday, they came to the High Street in Northallerton to film a number of scenes.

The film, called Slow Rot, is about a man who finds himself down on his luck when his relationship comes to a bitter end. He then discovers he has contracted an extreme strain of the deadly Ebola virus and his body begins to rot.

Executive producer Simon Lavin said: "Basically, his life is falling apart, and he is falling apart as well."

The film makers decided to use Thirsk as the setting for the film as most of them are from the town.

Mr Lavin, who also works in construction management at Severfield Reeve in Thirsk, said the town had a lot going for it as a film location.

"There is a lot of character in Thirsk. The house that we are using for one of our primary locations is absolutely superb.

"We are using the local cinema in Thirsk, which is a more rustic type of cinema than you would get anywhere else. It has its own particular vibe to it and its own ambience."

The group have got a specialist coming up from London to put together a trailer for the film.

Mr Lavin said: "The intention will be to show that around film festivals with a view to either getting a distributor for the final product, which would be great, or just to get ourselves known if we want to do it again."

"If everything goes to plan, it should take two weeks, but it is probably going to need an extra week and maybe a bit more to get it finished. We are going for a quality product rather than quantity. The cameras that we are using are digital broadcast quality."