Former Whitstable resident Peter Cushing features on a new set of specially themed stamps.

Royal Mail is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of the first Dracula movie by Hammer Films with three stamps featuring posters of some of the best known films.

All starred Cushing, who first visited Whitstable in the 1940s and bought a house in 1959 which became his home until his death in 1994.

Dracula, which was released in 1958 and is the first colour version of Bram Stoker’s vampire tale, features on the 48p stamps, while The Curse of Frankenstein can be seen on 56p stamps.

Cushing’s role as archaeologist John Banning is commemmorated in the 81p stamps which feature the 1959 version of The Mummy.

It is also the half-century of the Carry On series and three of the best-known films from that genre are included as well.

Julietta Edgar, head of special stamps, said: “Carry On and Hammer Films had a huge impact on audiences around the world.

“The stamp issue celebrates and unifies the two very different film genres that spanned decades of UK cinema and remain popular today.”

The stamps are available this month.

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