A Sheppey beach will feature in a short film depicting the end of a true love story where one party has literally been left breathless.

Early morning dog walkers were surprised to come across director Tim Hawkins, plus cast and crew filming Lovesick on Minster beach last Saturday.

Lovesick, a five-minute feature written by Tim and Matt Coleman, tells the story of a couple forced to part because of a terrible physical affliction – the man has gills and must leave for the ocean as he is finding it increasingly difficult to breathe on land.

It shows his struggle to remain with his love using water soaked bandages, before giving in to his “futile, rasping breaths” and heading for the sea.

Tim said: “Despite the fantastical elements of the film it is ostensibly a story about the end of a relationship, where both parties are still deeply in love but must somehow find the strength to part.

“We chose to shoot in Sheppey due to its proximity to London and how closely its shoreline represented what I pictured as I wrote the script.

“The shoot itself took place on Minster beach at 6am. We drove from London the night before to capture some driving scenes on the way down, so by the time we arrived we were all feeling pretty exhausted!

“However, despite lack of sleep and high winds everyone soldiered on and we were able to get what we needed, in between bemused early morning dog walkers crossing our set!

“The shoot over, we piled in to the Shurland Hotel where the manager was kind enough to open the kitchen early to feed our crew breakfast and provide a few much needed tea and coffee.”

The film was produced by Viv Nissanka, of Lochana Films.

It starts and ends with scenes of the deserted beach and is intermingled with shots from hotel rooms and driving scenes, plus views of many empty bottles of water as the male lead tries to survive on land.

The closing scene features the woman staring out to sea for a moment, then picks up her shoes and walks away alone.