A naked Lady Godiva lookalike will ride a horse across Oxford's Magdalen Bridge next month, flanked by a posse of Harley Davidson motorcycles.

The traffic-stopping spectacle is being staged for Oxford filmmaker Vicky Jewson's new movie, a modern-day version of the Lady Godiva story.

"We will be doing the scene very early in the morning, and it will be very tastefully done. But yes, our actress Phoebe Thomas will be nude," said Miss Jewson, 21, from Boar's Hill.

"We're also lining up an A-list name, possibly the model Kate Moss, to play the medieval Lady Godiva, during a 10-minute flashback in the film.

"I'd like Kate Winslet ideally, but we will definitely have a big name to market the film."

Lady Godiva's six-week shooting schedule begins on Monday and will use locations in and around the city, including the Said Business School, Kirtlington Polo Ground and streets in Jericho.

"Although it will start with a medieval re-enactment and be based around the ideas of the legend, it will be mostly based in the 21st century and will be about a strong, young woman and her bid to become a success," said Miss Jewson.

"The heroine works as a charity worker and we have built a set of her workshop at the Art Project studio, in Kidlington, which we have also rented as our office base for the film."

She added: "Lady Godiva has never before been cinematically realised. But it's an important legend, firmly rooted in British history and I'm looking forward to adding my own young perspective on it."

A former Wychwood School pupil, Miss Jewson began making films aged seven. Her first, called Lillys White, was a Second World War drama focusing on the women left at home. Her next film, a 40-minute spy thriller, Boz James, put her own spin on James Bond, and included 40 motorcyclists zooming along Oxford's Merton Street.

She wrote her version of Lady Godiva the day she finished her A-Levels. Well-known Oxfordshire quizmaster Nicholas Parsons, who has been a supporter of Miss Jewson since her directing debut, will also have a role in the film and act as an associate producer.

The actor playing Godiva's love interest in the film is Matthew Chambers, from Chesterton, near Bicester.

"The film is due for release at Christmas," said Miss Jewson.

"I'm just looking forward to getting on set here in Oxford. The best times of my life are when I'm filming."

8:56am Friday 9th June 2006

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