AFTER years of research, a man is creating a film about the tragic tale of a Workington girl who was murdered 137 years ago.

Steve Baldwin has spent much of the past seven years trying to unravel the sad tale of Lucy Sands, 16, who was last seen in December 1881.

He is now working with actors and a film crew to share the story of the unsolved crime with a wider audience. A short preview film will be shown in Workington this summer.

"I have found substantial evidence to now name the murderers," said Steve.

"We will be turning the clock back to that fateful night, covering the years before and the ensuing months after her remains were found, finally bringing some form of justice and peace to the young girl whose spirit has remained restless for over 137 years."

Steve, a costume designer, lives in Devon and is filming around Cornwall with 51 actors, most of them professional.

He has written The Ballad of Lucy Sands and is directing it, supported by a crew of 11.

"Everyone has got deeply involved in the story and is doing it because they want justice for Lucy. Everyone is on the same wavelength," he said.

Lucy arrived in Workington in 1876, a 12-year-old orphan sent from Belfast to live with her grandmother and aunt.

"One cold evening, December 1, 1881, she left her home at 2 Christian Street to walk out with her friends, Maggie, Jane and Mary. She never returned back home," said Steve.

"Lucy's body was discovered three months later on March 1, 1882, stashed under a pile of old road cobbles by the side of the busy main road that lead out of town, the Northside.

"Her murder shook the very fabric of Victorian society, the news of her murder spread across the empire. For weeks the papers were reporting the girls murder, and for weeks later they reported the unfair trial of her murderer."

Steve visited the town in 2015. "I hoped to find her final resting place, the place where she had lived and the place of her murder," he said.

"I found just one out of three, the house on her street was still there, her grave headstone missing, the entire St John's churchyard had been levelled out in the early 1960s, no trace of her grave was there yet her body lay under that earth, somewhere.

"The murder spot was located near to where I was searching by the river, but was also unmarked."

Making the film has turned out to be a far bigger project than Steve ever imagined.

"Within two weeks of being a pitched idea which originally consisted of two cameramen, seven actors and extras and a Victorian steam train, we had 39 actors and 11 crew members on set on the first day, all brought together through the power of social media," he said.

"It's incredible to see how the story of Lucy is such a powerful one that has drawn everyone who is involved with this into a very close knit family and is now drawing people from all over the world into the films production via social media."

The film will be shown at 11am and 2pm on Sunday, June 2, at the Helena Thompson Museum in Workington.

Each screening will be followed by a question and answer session afterwards with Steve, some crew and cast.

Tickets cost £3, with all proceeds going to the museum.