'Our pharmacy features in Paddington in Peru’

Pharmacist Kerry Evans says the gift of Aunt Lucy's Marmalade "tastes lovely"

A pharmacist said she was "super proud" that producers chose her shop to feature in the new film Paddington in Peru, which hit cinemas this weekend.

Kerry Evans, from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, said "it was manic" when crews transformed Gadebridge Pharmacy into Portobello Chemist for a scene in the movie.

"We sold Paddington the bits to go on his holiday in Peru," she told the BBC, adding that they were given a jar of the fictional bear’s favourite food, marmalade.

With actor Hugh Bonneville on set - who plays Mr Brown in all three Paddington films - Ms Evans said people had come "from all over town" to follow the action.

Actor Hugh Bonneville plays Mr Brown and was spotted by locals in Hemel Hempstead during filming last August

The third instalment in the Paddington live action adventure franchise sees the bear return to Peru to visit his aunt Lucy.

But before the Brown family accompany him to South America, he visits Portobello Chemist to collect important travel equipment.

Ms Evans said they didn’t know at first that the production was for a major feature film.

"I was working there with my colleague, who’s my mum, when the location manager came in.

"She asked if we would be willing for them to film here - if we would be interested.

"Then when the crew turned up, we found out.

"It was manic. We had a shop full of people taking everything off the shelves, readjusting items, hiding the stock.

"Customers were coming in, getting in the way as they do! Outside the shop we had people coming from all over town to see."

Gadebridge Pharmacy was transformed into Portobello Chemist for a scene in the movie

Amy Greenland is the filming lead at Dacorum Borough Council and has nicknamed the town "Hemelwood", after several TV series were filmed there, including Masters of the Air and After Life.

She said Paddington in Peru "was the biggest production I’ve been involved with".

"It was great. There were lots of film crews, it was quite a big scale."

Even Ms Greenland wasn’t told explicitly which film was being shot beforehand.

"There were some fun hints," she said.

"It was meant to be a secret. The production company were called Marmalade Films, so you could kind of piece it together.

"It will be lovely for the community in ‘Hemelwood’- come and visit the shops and see another filming location," she added.

Paddington in Peru is the third installment of the movie series based on the stories by Michael Bond