A SHORT film will tell the dramatic story of the Battle of Worcester as the director hopes to put the city on the map as the true capital of Britain’s Civil War history.

The plot revolves around an idle modern day college drop out who cares nothing about history but suffers a freak accident and wakes up in the thick of the battle on September 3, 1651.

He has to take a message to the future king Charles II, watching the battle unfold from the top of the cathedral tower.

The battle was the last of the Civil War when Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army defeated the Royalists, many of whom were Scottish.

It was later celebrated by two future US presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, as pivotal to the emergence of democracy.

Adams called Worcester 'the ground where liberty was fought for' and lambasted the English for forgetting that so soon.

The film, which will be filmed in June and July, has the ambitious task of telling the story of the battle in about 11 minutes from its beginning to the Royalist defeat when Charles fled the city.

The film’s director, Joe Gaffney, who hails from St John’s in Worcester said the aim was to educate and entertain and also to entice visitors to the city, including those from overseas.

The 27-year-old said: “We’re trying to make this city proud of the history and get more people interested in it.”

Some promotional material was shot for the film at the weekend, making use of the city’s re-enactors, and it is scheduled to be launched on September 3, to coincide with the anniversary of the battle.

He hopes it can be shown at one of the city’s cinemas – Vue or Odeon – and the Commandery in Sidbury.

Mr Gaffney said: “The Battle of Worcester is one of the most important, yet overlooked moments in British history. Knowledge of this crucial event is unfortunately lacking amongst local residents and barely exists among people from outside the city.

“Because of its importance to Worcester and because it’s a not for profit project we are really building this as a community project. We are trying involve as many organisations and individuals as possible. With the Commandery, Cathedral, Worcester University and others already playing a key part we are on the way to building a strong collaborative team.

“This film is going to lead the charge in establishing Worcester as the capital of Civil War in Britain. Once implemented in the Commandery and Worcester Museum it will be there for people to watch for as long as those establishments exist, for generations of people to learn more about Worcester’s history.

"We are going to circulate it around local schools for it to be included in their curriculum.”