It might not be quite as romantic a tale, or have a the same A-list Hollywood cast, but Wimbledon has a new motion picture.

Six years after Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany starred in Wimbledon the movie, a professional film maker has completed his own feature-length project under the same title to paint a more accurate impression of the area.

Former Lauriston Road resident Tim Higham spent six months documenting the town’s 3,000-year history in the film which runs to 94 minutes and has been released on DVD with more than an hour of special features.

He said: “It’s just such a fascinating place. When you say Wimbledon, everyone thinks of just the tennis but it would be good to show the world there’s a lot more to the place.

“I’ve been a film maker for about 20 years and I’d always thought making a documentary here would be a fascinating thing to do. Hopefully it will become a valuable historical record.”

Demand has been growing with Wimbledon Books and Music in the Village running out of copies and people flocking to the internet for copies.

Mr Higham added: “There was so much that I never knew: Baden Powell wrote some of the first works about scouting in the Windmill on Wimbledon Common. Then there was Lord Nelson.

“We all know he lived in the area for a long period, but it was at the time he became Britain’s most famous adulterer continuing his affair with Lady Emma Hamilton for many years.

“Even more fascinating was the discovery that Wimbledon was bombed, not only in World War II, but in the First World War by Zepplins. The Royal Flying Corps was actually forced to station two planes on the common.”

For more information, log on to wimblefilm.com