Pictures appear to show Tom Cruise filming in Derbyshire

Tom Cruise was apparently pictured at the wheel of a Jeep

Hollywood star Tom Cruise appears to have been pictured in Derbyshire, fuelling excitement about another Mission: Impossible film.

Cruise was apparently snapped driving a Jeep in an apparent stunt scene at Middleton Mine on Monday.

Film crews have set up at the location and told villagers it was being used to record a car chase.

Cruise has starred in the blockbuster franchise as Impossible Mission Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt.

Middleton Community Primary School reportedly hosted an assembly where a production team revealed the scene was being filmed at Middleton Mine.

Mission: Impossible shot a train stunt at another Derbyshire quarry in 2021.

Tarmac, which owns the site near Matlock, offers it as a filming location for production companies but was unable to confirm to the BBC if Mission: Impossible was shooting there currently.

Cruise has starred in seven Mission: Impossible films

The school did not confirm the production team had visited but a seven-year-old pupil told BBC Radio Derby: "We went in for assembly and there were four people from Mission: Impossible.

"They spoke about a car chase and that two people rode in a car through the mines.

"It was really fun because we could ask them questions. I asked them what their favourite movie was. They said they liked lots of movies and asked me what mine was."

Simon Pegg, who plays field agent Benji Dunn, shared a picture on Instagram of himself and fellow cast members outside the nearby Castle Inn in Bakewell.

Hayley Atwell, who starred in the previous Mission: Impossible film as thief-turned-agent Grace, also shared a photograph atop Bamford Edge in the Peak District on her account this week.

The scene involving the locomotive crash for Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning, was filmed at Darlton Quarry in Stoney Middleton, near Eyam, in August 2021, which was followed by another stunt involving a train carriage.

Cruise was spotted at the quarry during the filming of the stunts three years ago but the film franchise's star had not been spotted this time around.

Steve Thomas, landlord of The Rising Sun pub in Middleton, said members of the production team coming into his pub had confirmed the rumours that Mission: Impossible filming had returned to the county.

"It is more than rumour, it is actual fact - although I've not seen Mr Cruise just yet," the 57-year-old said.

"A number of people from the production offices have come into the pub recently.

"There is a mine nearby and they said they are doing car chase sequences through the galleries in there, so it's an open secret, shall we say."

Multiple vehicles spotted at Middleton Mine

Mission: Impossible's eighth instalment is scheduled for release in May 2025.

The as-yet unnamed film's production company Skydance Media has been approached for comment.