A local actor has scooped up the award for Best Actor in a Short Film at a major indie horror film festival in California.

Richard Banks, 52, of Crayford near Bexley was awarded the prize at the Fantastic Horror Film Festival last week for his role in the film Extinction, which was shot in Essex. In the film, Banks plays 'Bubs', a man who fights to survive in a zombie apocalypse in a remote outpost.

As the festival was held in San Diego, Banks had to successfully raise £1500 through crowdfunding to fly over.

Speaking about the win, Richard said that he felt "very lucky" that he was able to attend the festival and also to accept the award for Extinction which was named Best Short Film of the year.

"It was amazing flying to San Diego, thanks to all my friends and family contributing to my crowdfunding, and to win Best Actor was just incredible," said Richard.

Describing life on set, Richard acknowledged the hard work put in by everyone on the team and didn't skimp on the "gory" details.

"Our makeup and special effects team created some incredible gory effects on our undead characters, so we were all hoping we’d be nominated," said Richard.

Richard's screenwriting friend, Nina Romain, said that she was delighted to hear about his win and that there was no questioning that it was deserved.

"Richard really deserves winning Best Actor and we all know how great it is to work with him on every set he's ever on," said Nina.

Richard is currently acting on stage in the Olivier nominated 'Witness for the Prosecution' at London County Hall. He has also appeared in a number of major international films, including Beauty and the Beast, The Commuter and Victoria & Abdul.