Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie has thanked the “incredibly lovely and welcoming” residents of a North Yorkshire village where scenes for the film have been shot.

Tom Cruise and hundreds of members of the movie’s film crew were last week pictured in the village of Levisham near Pickering.

The actor is reprising his role as spy Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible 7.

McQuarrie wrote on Instagram: “What would Mission be without a bit of local color?

“Our sincerest thanks to North Yorkshire Moors Railway, the Office for Road and Rail, Eddie Draper, Riley’s & GB Rail Freight and, of course, the incredibly lovely and welcoming people of Levisham.

“We had an amazing week (and remarkably fair weather) in fabulous Yorkshire.

“We’ll be back for one last bit of mischief in short order.”

He shared the message alongside an image of Cruise hanging from the side of a train carriage.

Last week Harriet Allen and her mum, Amy, of Pickering, shared how they were lucky enough to meet Tom near Levisham station during the shoot.

Harriet, 28, said: "He was lovely and gracious, stopping for photos with everyone and commented on how much he liked Yorkshire. A really lovely guy - he didn’t need to come and do this, we were quite taken aback."

Production of Mission: Impossible 7, from Paramount Pictures, has suffered a number of delays due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Filming was scheduled to begin in Italy in February 2020 but production was halted as coronavirus cases rose in the country.

After a delay, filming restarted at locations including Warner Bros Studios Leavesden in Hertfordshire.

Earlier this month, the film’s release was delayed from November until May 2022 as coronavirus continued to disrupt international schedules, with Mission: Impossible 8 slated for release in 2023.