Tim Kirkby vowed to shoot his first film at the seaside resort he has always loved, and at a Kemp Town cafe he was keeping his promise.

As writer and director of The Blind Spot, he has brought a feature-length thriller to Brighton.

Tim has spent time in London making commercials and Channel 5 documentaries but always wanted to return to his cherished city.

He said: "I studied media at the University of Brighton in 1990 and wanted to stay on here.

"I moved to London to pursue my love of film but I always said I would come to Brighton to make a movie."

The Blind Spot tells the story of Joe Lockhart, a depressed actor working in London who spends weekends in Brighton.

One morning he takes a walk on the beach and discovers a body clutching a photograph.

He recognises people in the picture and becomes obsessed with unravelling the mystery.

The plot thickens when he starts a relationship with a girl he thinks could be involved in the death.

City locations in the film include the Candy Bar cafe in St James's Street, the Ocean Rooms club in Morley Street, the West Pier and Brighton Marina.

Tim, 31, asked friends to open up their Kemp Town homes to shoot scenes in their lounges.

He said: "I wrote the film last August and have been devoting myself to it ever since.

"I've used a Brighton crew and Brighton contacts and it's taking about two-and-a-half weeks to film."

The Blind Spot's budget is £15,000 and London-based Avalon Motion Pictures has agreed to finance and market it.

He said: "I've written The Blind Spot with a low budget in mind and hopefully the story will overtake the production value."

Candy Bar supervisor Vicki Jago said: "Filming like this is excellent for the bar. It would be good to get in the shoot as an extra."