A teacher-turned-author from Bexleyheath has said he wants to tackle the issue of prejudice with his new children's novel about a vampire.

Grayson Grave, 27, has penned and self-published his first novel, Etty Steele Vampire Hunter, out now.

The novel is about a young girl called Etty who gets to know a new boy in her class who is a vampire.

Although at first the children shun the new pupil for being different, they learn to get to know more about him.

Speaking about the moral of the tale, Grayson told News Shopper he hopes it will teach children about acceptance, referring to a turbulent political climate.

"It plays on current themes and warns not to judge people by what they look like," he said.

Formerly a primary school teacher at Upland Primary School in Bexley, Grayson first wrote the novel so he could read it to his class.

"They liked it - they kept asking me to read more of it," he said.

Despite working full-time, Grayson found time to write the novel around his busy schedule - often waking up at 5am to write before work and writing late into the night.

After self-publishing the novel, which is available in print and on Kindle from Amazon, Grayson made the book free to buy for its first weekend on sale so his pupils could grab themselves a copy.

As an English and creative writing student, Grayson told News Shopper he has wanted to write a novel since he was a teenager.

"I used to write pieces and ask my mum to read them but I don't think they were that good at the time," he joked.

But after studying for a degree and a masters in writing, he hopes his debut novel will capture children's imaginations.