A weekly newspaper has produced a ‘zombie edition’ to coincide with the filming of a horror movie on its patch.

The Brentwood Gazette has put together the eight-page mini newspaper, which is set to appear in the film Welcome to Essex when it is released next year.

The zombie supplement edition, pictured below, came about after filmmakers asked the Gazette to produce a dummy front page reporting on a zombie apocalypse due to take place in the movie.

A major scene in the film was due to be filmed in Brentwood yesterday with 1,800 ‘zombies’ set to tear down the high street.The zombie edition, which appears inside this week’s paper, features pictures of readers in zombie makeup, along with fictional accounts about how they perished or survived the undead assault.

Gazette editor Nev Wilson told readers: “This was a unique opportunity for the Gazette to be part of a huge film project taking place in the heart of our community.

“Readers will have the opportunity to not only read all about the film, but get into the spirit of it with our own imagining of how a newspaper might report a zombie invasion.

“They will also be able to own a copy of a genuine prop from the movie, filmed in their own town.

“For the movie, the zombie edition, found in the centre of the paper, can be wrapped around the outside of the actual newspaper, to make it appear like the genuine article.

“It was utterly bizarre news editing and proofing pages containing evacuation proceedings, survival tips and expert advice for readers in case of such an emergency.

“We also made it abundantly clear that the zombie pages were entirely fictional, although some of the names contained within our reports were real, sent in with pictures by our readers. We hope you enjoy this very special edition of your local newspaper.”

The zombie supplement also contains information about the film, cast and crew.

The front page of the Brentwood Gazette in which the zombie supplement appeared.