A NEW phone app and film uncovering Bradford's rich and varied film heritage was officially unveiled at a civic reception at City Hall last night.

The project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is the culmination of a year's worth of research by students from Titus Salt School in Baildon, supported by Bradford UNESCO City of Film.

The study has uncovered past locations and pieced together the timeline of film heritage in Bradford, helped in part by being given full access to the photographic archive at the Telegraph & Argus.

"We were given free rein of the T&A archives, which was brilliant" said David Wilson, director of Bradford UNESCO City of Film.

"There's a great photograph of Sir Tom Courtenay on the set of Billy Liar, actually reading a copy of the T&A, and it's little gems like that which make the app so Bradford.

"Previously we had a leaflet guide with 25 locations, but the new app has over 160 film and TV locations that have been used across the district over the past 100 years, which is phenomenal.

"We're hoping that it'll become a tool both for tourism and for people in Bradford to become more proud of their film heritage.

"There are other areas around Yorkshire and the UK that can boast film credentials, but if you look at the length of time Bradford has been involved in film, from the very early pioneers of cinema to cutting edge films, it's second to none and it's a really exciting time to be involved in film here."

"The app really encapsulates what we want to do in the City of Film, to encourage people to learn about film heritage, and encourage people to visit the city," said Steve Abbott, City of Film board chairman and the producer behind hits such as Brassed Off and A Fish Called Wanda.

"We're often very modest about what we've done in Bradford in terms of the visual arts, but this is fantastic achievement and it's another string to our bow in cementing our UNESCO status."

The students worked with professional filmmaker Jack Lockhart and staff from Bradford University to develop the app and supporting film, which allows users to explore more than 100 years of film and TV heritage across the district.

One of the students from Titus Salt, 16 year-old Katy Halfyard, said: "We hope people enjoy the app as much as we enjoyed making it, and hope it makes Bradford's film heritage clearer for everyone."

To find the app, visit www.bradford-city-of-film.com/app.