The lost village of Charlton has been featured in a new DVD that visits the sites of some of the thousands of communities that have disappeared over the years.

Yate-based 1st Take has brought out Lost Villages, based on the book of the same name by best-selling author Henry Buckton.

It has been estimated that some 3,000 villages have vanished for various reasons, many of them economic.

1st Take has visited a number of them that were wiped off the map during the 20th century, including Charlton which was a victim of the ill-fated Bristol Brabazon aircraft project.

Consisting of a manor house, several farms and cottages, a chapel, pub, common and post office, Charlton was destroyed and the people who lived there moved – many to Patchway – to make way for a lengthened runway at Filton.

The work had to be done so it could accommodate the giant Brabazon plane, which made its maiden flight nearly 60 years ago in September 1949.

But the plane was out of date before it even flew and the whole project was scrapped after just a few years.

The DVD covers the demolition of the village, the building of the runway and even a flight over the site.

Cameraman Andy Warren said: "The people of Charlton received a letter from the Air Ministry telling them their homes were being compulsorily purchased and they would have to move.

"At least the site went on to be the location for thousands of jobs, unlike some of the villages we included."

Elsewhere in the South West, Moorswater in Cornwall was demolished in the 1970s for a new road, while Imber on Salisbury Plain and Tyneham in Dorset were requisitioned by the military.

Dave Rogers, who produced the documentary, said 1st Take also visited villages that were flooded to form reservoirs and Penybanc in South Wales, which was the victim of subsidence caused by mining.

Mr Rogers said: "So many British communities have disappeared over the years for so many different reasons.

"To underline the point that this is not a phenomenon restricted to the past, we have also included the village of Sipson in our narrative as it is scheduled to be razed to allow a third runway at Heathrow Airport."

Archive photographs, interviews and location film have been used in the DVD, which is written and presented by Mr Buckton, who lives in Somerset.