THE Port of Tilbury became the scene for one of most hotly anticipated films of 2014 last week.

Crew from the film Paddington, which stars Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth, shot some of the films last scenes on a ship there.

They also used the port’s railway station.

A lot of the filming took place on board and alongside the Samskip Innovator ship. Scenes were also shot in Paddington Bear’s lifeboat.

A computer generated image of the bear will be placed onto the boat at a later date.

Academy award winner Kidman is playing the villain of the piece, Millicent, in the family film, which features the voice of Colin Firth as Paddington Bear.

Filming took place over Thursday and Friday of last week. Matt Lucas, Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters and Sally Hawkins also feature in the film which is directed by Mighty Boosh director Paul King. It will be released in November 2014.

Perry Glading, from the Port of Tilbury, said: “The Port is a popular location for film shoots and we were particularly excited to welcome the cast and crew of the new Paddington movie this week to the cruise terminal.

“The only downside was that Paddington bear himself did not make an appearance at the port as he’s now digital!”