A ROMSEY movie depicting the town's long history has scooped an award at an amateur film festival.

'Romsey the Movie' started as a retirement project for wedding photographer Kate Jackson and ended up involving dozens of residents, which has now raked in more than 25,000 views on YouTube.

Now, the short film has been recognised for its distinctive music after it was crowned the Focus Prize winner by the British International Amateur Film Festival.

Kate, who lives in Greenwood Close, said the project was written in 2018 initially as a poem before growing into a song and finally being shot as a music video.

The 59-year-old said: "I received the award in October and it is a lovely feeling that somebody liked the movie.

"For the film, I went to my friend, Keith Curtis, who has a farm in Plaitford and we recorded his accent so when we were recording the song we could listen to it.

"Mark Ponsford, who sang the song, then copied Keith's accent for the film.

"I would have loved a real Romsey native, but I couldn't find anyone in the town with a Hampshire accent."

She added: "People who took part in the film are the real heroes of the project, because it would not have worked without them.

"It was a lot of fun to make and it is something people in Romsey will hopefully enjoy forever."

To watch the film, visit https://bit.ly/3m7FxYW.