A Sidmouth writer will be bringing history to life with a new book focusing on the town during World War I.

Following the success of her play A Painful Duty in November, Christine Hardy has now begun compiling stories and photographs for her new book.

The play, written by Christine and Ruth Lewis, focuses on the lives of the Clode and Channing families and how they coped on the battlefield and at home during the conflict.

Now Christine is expanding her research to look at the Sid Valley as a whole between 1914 and 1919, featuring more families, photographs and articles from the time.

The writer said: “It does remind me of Sidmouth today that, if there is a disaster, the people of Sidmouth got together and did all sorts of things to fundraise.”

Photos of the men and women who died in the conflict will be featured.

She hopes the book’s release will come in the summer.