A QUAINT Dorset town provided inspiration for a critically acclaimed blockbuster during the director's time studying and growing up in the county.

Hot Fuzz, part of the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, is set in a fictional town called Sandford and filmed in Wells, Somerset, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

However, Wimborne Model Town provided some inspiration for the film when award-winning director, Edgar Wright, studied at Arts University Bournemouth.

Greg Hoar, of Wimborne Model Town, said: “There was a chap at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) who, I believe, wrote the script for Hot Fuzz and he based it on a visit he had to our model town.

“The idea with the pub and people with submachine guns, he based on being in Wimborne.

“For whatever reason it was filmed in Wells where they actually built a model village after seeing Wimborne’s.

“There are one or two model village aficionados who put this on Twitter from time to time.”

Mr Hoar said you see similarities in the film set and Wimborne and said it was great to be linked to such a popular film.

He added: “You see similarities in the town in the film, it’s projected as a quiet market town where everybody gets on and there’s no real trouble with law and order.

“It turns out the reverse is true and they are all terrorists, although that’s not the case here.

“It’s a great asset to the model town to know we were thought of in the first instance to be used as the idea for the film.”

Bournemouth Echo: Edgar Wright during a Q&A in Wimborne

Edgar Wright, who grew up in Dorset and Somerset, also found inspiration in Bournemouth for his film Baby Driver.

Speaking at a Q&A held at AUB in 2018, the director shared memories of his time spent in Bournemouth as a student.

He spent days “hiding in the editing suites, whilst everyone else was at the beach“, and “hearing a song in a Bournemouth bar and imagining a scene to go with it” – a song that would later feature in Baby Driver.

Jonathan Carr, director of AUB’s Bournemouth Film School, said: “We’re incredibly proud of all our alumni, who go on to do amazing things in a variety of roles across the creative industries.

“It certainly seems that our students go on to make a huge impact and often enjoy returning to our campus as graduates.

“At AUB we always tell our students to grasp every opportunity that Dorset has to offer, and Edgar, as one of our most celebrated alumni, is a perfect example of someone whose time at the university has remained with him and continues to influence his work.”