Residents say they are growing increasingly frustrated as a new werewolf horror prepared for night shoots in the Bourne Wood, raising fresh worries about noise, lights and late-night traffic.

The medieval horror film Werwulf, directed by Robert Eggers and featuring Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp and Ralph Ineson, is currently being filmed in the beauty spot near Farnham.

Residents of Tilford and The Bourne have worked hard to ensure that planning applications submitted to Waverley Borough Council came with strict conditions to mitigate filming’s impact. Many cite bright lights late at night, heavy traffic and noisy early-morning departures.

The film’s production company, Werwulf Productions, recently held an unprecedented meeting with residents at the Little Latte Café in Tilford to discuss the issue.

The meeting centred on a planning application, WA/2024/01719, which sought to vary conditions on night-time filming.

Residents praised the crew and their location managers for engaging with them for the first time.

Objector Anthony Patterson, however, said allowing weekend filming would cross a line for many residents.

He said: “The overall planning approval for filming in Bourne Wood has always included a restriction that there is to be no filming activity on weekends.

“This application for work on two weekends should therefore be denied. It would set an alarming precedent if after at least 20 years of regulated filming in Bourne Wood a basic limitation were changed.”

Calls are also being made for Forestry England, which manages the woodland, to do more to ensure film crews respect residents when using the site and surrounding car parks.

Complaint has also been raised that fields and car parks at Hankley Common are being used for filming nearby.

One local said: “I don’t want filming stopped at all. I just want film crews to be more mindful of residents living here. We had the last crew with big lights on at night when they shouldn’t have.”

Another added: “We have a parade of cars driving fast and blaring music in the early hours when filming is over. It’s just inconsiderate of people who live here.”

A spokesperson for Werwulf Productions said: “We understand your concerns about previous filming and we will do our best to mitigate the impact. We will take all your details down and be in communication with you while the shoot is ongoing. We need the extra filming hours at night because the film is about a Werwulf.”

Although the company was not responsible for issues caused by previous shoots, it still pledged to work with residents on ways to reduce disturbance and manage logistics.

While there is broad support for filming in the woods, residents remain concerned that too many crews are being allowed to bypass the planning conditions intended to protect them.

Bourne Wood has become one of the industry’s prime UK locations, used for titles such as the Roman epic Gladiator and historical drama Napoleon, both directed by Ridley Scott, the hit fantasy series The Witcher, and the superhero film Wonder Woman.