A CUTTING-EDGE filmmaker has been plodding the coastal paths of Dorset as he seeks inspiration for his latest project.

Londoner Bill Maloney has recently received acclaim for the film Lunatic and regularly visits the south coast.

He has been staying at Burnbake Campsite near Corfe Castle as he works on a new film, entitled The Brass.

Mr Maloney, 51, said his creative mind works best when he escapes from his urban background to the peace and quiet of the Dorset coast, where he does much of his writing.

"I started coming down to Dorset 20 years ago, when my wife Maria and I were cycling from London to the Westcountry. When I saw Studland Bay open up in front of me I was taken aback by it."

Mr Maloney returned to Studland to film one of his first short films, The Devil's Apprentice, and now regularly visits the county to experience the fresh air. He said; "I come to Dorset for the walks, to clear my mind.

"I love walking around places like Lulworth, Osmington Mills and Weymouth, where I get a different inspiration to what London offers.

"I make very gritty films, and when I come to Dorset the people ground me, in London everything is completely manic."

Mr Maloney's film Lunatic was recently released on DVD and received reviews in the national press.

It follows two crooked South London businessman whose lives are complicated by wives, girlfriends and lovers.

The production company behind Bill's films, Pie 'n' Mash Films Ltd, is a family business with Maria as producer and daughter Regan director of photography.

It has another film in the post-production stage, Blunderers, in which Bill stars as an alcoholic alongside a crack cocaine addict who turn to a hapless life of petty crime.

Bill, who overcame a drinking problem 20 years ago, says the Dorset countryside played a vital part in helping his co-star Steven Hodge beat his real-life cocaine addiction.

"I took him down to Dorset for a couple of weeks where we walked all the walks, camped and stayed in caravans, and we broke his habit."

Mr Maloney tends to use real-life characters rather than trained actors for his films and is on the lookout while in Dorset for characters for The Brass, a black comedy about prostitutes inspired by his own tough upbringing.

He said: "I was born to Irish immigrant parents and my Mum went on the game when I was four, leaving me to depend on my alcoholic father.

"I've had a very dramatic life but I try to use that and turn it into something positive."