THIS summer's blockbuster family film the BFG features some familiar scenery for East Lothian residents.

As the Steven Spielberg movie is released at cinemas today,it has been revealed scenes in the film were shot in the county last year.

It was all very hush-hush but the BFG planted his big feet in East Lothian briefly in July when he crossed the motorway on the way to Giants’ Land (Skye).

The A1 between Haddington and Gladsmuir was closed overnight for the filming, which involved cars and lorries from the 1980s being brought in to be driven along the road to set the scene for the giant’s journey – the adaptation of Roald Dahl’s famous children’s novel is set in the 1980s.

The scene shows the BFG stepping over the road as the sun rises, with the twinkling lights of a city in the background.

David Broder, Supervising Location Manager on the BFG said: “We had great help from East Lothian Council and Transport Scotland in securing permission to close the A1 near Haddington for one night, filming a sequence where our BFG jumps over a motorway on his way to Giants’ Land. Other aerial footage filmed in the area was also used in the film.”

The BFG was one of 33 productions filmed in East Lothian during 2015, including Tommy’s Honour, Outlander and The Secret Agent, which together are an important influence in attracting people to the region.

Councillor John McMillan, East Lothian Council’s spokesperson for Economic Development and Tourism, said: “We’re really pleased with the way our East Lothian Filming Charter is making it easy for crews to use East Lothian as a location for everything from TV series to big budget feature films – and you can’t get much bigger than Steven Spielberg and Disney! We know that East Lothian looks great on film so hopefully that will translate into even more visitors finding out how good it looks in reality – and the warm welcome that awaits.”