Two friends hope to place the subject of post-traumatic stress disorder firmly on the table by making a film depicting the aftermath of war.

Peter Tyrrell, 31, and Ryan Cope, who worked together as restaurant chefs in Bluewater, have been filming scenes for Spoils of War in Northfleet.

Ryan, 25, first made the film a few years ago but decided to remake it with a bigger budget after learning that there were no support groups in Gravesend and Dartford that help those with PTSD.

Ryan and Peter, together with producer Melvyn Appleford, 21, and sound technician John Ray, 25, hope Spoils of War, once completed, will feature at festivals, as well as screenings at The Woodville and The Orchard Theatre.

The film tells the story of a former soldier who struggles with every day life after serving in Afghanistan. Events come to a head when he is the victim of a street robbery and he reacts by putting a gun to the mugger’s head. Scenes have been filmed at Peter’s home in Northfleet, as well as Our Lady of the Assumption Church on The Hill, Northfleet, and a nearby quarry.

As well as producing, Peter is also starring in the film: “About five years ago I was an actor and appeared in the TV series Life of Riley, as well as the Ricky Gervais film, Cemetery Junction,” he said.

“Unfortunately I came out of the business because I had a mortgage. I work as a sous chef at Wagamama, where Ryan was also a chef.

“He wrote Spoils of War a few years ago and made it on a really low budget but is now making it on a bigger scale. It was only four weeks ago that he said he wanted to do this, gave us all jobs and since then I haven’t been off my phone.”

The team has enlisted the help of the charity, Support Our Soldiers (SOS), as well as Northfleet-based Council for Voluntary Service North West Kent.

“The charity is liaising with us and has verified the script, asking whether it was based on true stories because it is so real,” said Peter.

“We were going to do this just to go into film festivals but now we wonder how much it can help and, as well as local, and hopefully London, screenings, we want to kick-start a project to make a documentary with people explaining their experiences of PTSD and help broaden people’s knowledge of the condition.”