Positive COVID tests lead to closure of Tom Cruise's UK filming of Mission: Impossible

The filming for the next instalment of Mission: Impossible in the UK has been halted after positive COVID-19 tests were reported, Paramount Pictures has said, according to the media reports.

It is unclear how many positive tests there were, but filming on Tom Cruise's latest film will now pause for two weeks as a result.

"We have temporarily halted production on Mission: Impossible 7 until 14 June, due to positive coronavirus test results during routine testing. We are following all safety protocols and will continue to monitor the situation," the studio said in a statement.

Filming on the eagerly awaited seventh instalment of the action franchise has been taking place in and around the UK, with people spotting sets springing up in a number of locations. In April, pictures from Derbyshire appeared to show a train track in a quarry, while Cruise was spotted in North Yorkshire on top of a mock steam locomotive.

While in North Yorkshire, the 58-year-old actor waved to members of the public who had flocked to see him at the heritage railway. There have been a number of coronavirus-enforced delays on the film's production, which was due to begin in February last year in Italy. Instead, it began production later in the year at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden near Watford, and there are reports that during its production in Norway, Cruise rented two cruise ships to contain the staff and crew in a bubble.

In December, audio emerged of Cruise delivering a furious rant to the film's crew for breaking COVID-19 protocols. The film, starring Cruise alongside Simon Pegg and Rebecca Ferguson, is set for release next May.