A grisly film made by local people in Thanet about the horrors of a medieval plague has proved an unexpected hit.

Film maker Norman Thomas said: "It seems that people really like watching their friends and neighbours die in agony! We had two sell-out shows and have decided to bring it back again."

Thanet and The Black Death began as an educational project to recreate the impact the plague, which ravaged Britain in 1348, had on a local village.

Shot on location around the district with a cast featuring many residents, the film vividly recreates the life of the period and the total inadequacy of the medical practices of the time to cope with the disease.

Local make-up students created the swellings characteristic of the disease and a plague pit was dug on a farm, which the filmmakers filled with people playing corpses.

Mr Thomas added: "It was amazing how keen the people were on dying. Several volunteered on condition they could die on camera.

"The Black Death had a much bigger impact on the area than previously thought. We discovered that most of the people in Acol died in the plague, that there were plague pits in the tiny hamlet of Woodchurch, and that the unusual shape of All Saints Church in Birchington is a direct result of the shortage of labour caused by the Black Death.

"The whole subject cries out for more research and we hope to return to this theme."

Thanet and the Black Death will receive its final screening on Sunday, March 21, at 5pm at The Palace Cinema, Broadstairs. To book, contact 01843 865726.