A time travelling creature has taken over the borough in a new novel written by a local comedian.

Westspring: Tales of a Patient, by Nick Pearmain, will take readers through a thrilling journey surrounding the horrors of Westspring Asylum in the east end of London.

The story follows Dr Michelle Fox who has travelled to the asylum from Ireland and through her investigations she discovers the deep dark secrets harboured behind Westspring’s walls.

During her stay, she meets two cousins, who are patients at the hospital and are convinced they are time travellers. This leads to the psychologist finding out more about the hospital and the people that work there.

“I’m actually a stand-up comedian and have done gigs in and around the area so at first it might have seemed unusual for me to be writing a horror and sci-fi novel,” Nick said.

“But it is something that I have really enjoyed and I do think it could be the next best thing.”

The 25-year-old from West Ham explained that he was very keen to have the novel based in Newham.

He said: “I was born and bred in West Ham. I have literally lived here my whole life so Newham is very important to me.

“I didn’t pick a specific part of the borough; instead, I mentioned different areas throughout the novel.

“But I just wanted the whole of the area to be an important feature of the book.

“This isn’t to say that in the future I won’t base my writing elsewhere, but at this specific moment it was important for me to base the novel in Newham.”

He added: “For me it is quite important that readers identify with the places mentioned in the book, I want them to read and recognise the areas I have written about. Westspring itself comes from West Ham.

“It always makes it that little bit more special if you actually know of the area you’re reading about.”

Altogether, it took Nick a whole year to complete the story and he is now planning to turn his writing into a series.

He said: “I’m hoping to complete the next book quite soon as a follow-up to Westspring. I really hope people like it and respond to it positively.”

As well as writing, Nick also enjoys showing off his comedy skills and has performed in venues across east London including Arch1 in Canning Town.

He has also set up a charity business called NickJackHE. All the money raised through organising events is then donated to a chosen charity.