SINGING puppets, a talking sausage and a host of local landmarks have appeared in a quirky music video about Rayleigh.

Robert Kelly, of Rayleigh, going by the name “Robert Century and the Flops”, has written, directed and starred in the video “A Love Letter to Rayleigh”, which is on the video-sharing website Youtube.

Mr Kelly, of Mortimer Road, a plasterer by trade, has spent a year making the video, with features landmarks such as the Pink Toothbrush, Andy’s Barbers, Rayleigh Kebab, Ye Olde Crown, Wimpy and the Travellers, as well as some of the local characters who inhabit them.

He said: “I go to see bands a lot and often you get people singing about places they’ve never been to so I decided to write a song about something I know a lot about and where I’ve lived all my life.

“I thought I’d go round with the puppets and ask all the local characters I know and certain shops if I could film them, which has taken almost a year, and then it was a case of editing and dubbing all the footage at the Broom Cupboard studio.

“I’ve had a lot of people say they’re really happy with it, and some people living abroad have said it made them really homesick, but I just like doing something a bit unusual.”

The video, which is almost ten minutes long, tells the story of a band of performing puppets, borrowed from Mr Kelly’s brother’s entertainment business Party with Sid, who are having trouble finding work because the people of Rayleigh have become so glum.

Mr Kelly then writes a letter to the town before its spirit possesses a Wimby “bender” sausage he is about to eat and tells him to write a song about his love for Rayleigh and the people in it.

Mr Kelly, 35, said he often records songs and videos to pass the time and was getting a positive response from his latest effort.

More than 1,000 people have watched the video since it was uploaded on Christmas Eve.