The location of the film Sandford is not a fictional place insofar as there are plenty of Sandfords based all around the United Kingdom, albeit in different counties. However, the title of Sandford is significant because it acts as a reference to police training Sandford is the name of the training village used by the UK police to enact role plays. The film itself was actually shot in Wrights hometown of Wells, Somerset, UK. The alley down which Nicholas Angel pursues the shoplifter is where the director used to walk to school and had his first kiss, with the area where Angel spots the swan being just outside one of his friends houses.