Springfield Gardens in Upminster has been used as a set for a new Harry Potter series without prior consultation with residents. Photo / Getty Images
Springfield Gardens in Upminster has been used as a set for a new Harry Potter series without prior consultation with residents. Photo / Getty Images
Residents of a quiet street in East London fear being “bombarded with wizards” after their homes were secretly turned into a set for a new Harry Potter series.
Springfield Gardens in Upminster will play the role of Privet Drive, where the boy wizard spent his early years, in the upcomingHBO production. However, locals said they were not consulted before filming began in June.
Katie Perry, 42, said letters were posted through doors saying filming would be taking place, but she did not realise it would be for the Potter remake and is now worried about fans coming to take pictures of her house.
“We just saw some cameras outside, they never said what it was for,” the mother of two said. “It is such a massive franchise, so we are shocked that nobody told us. Now we are on some Harry Potter Facebook page with our number plate in the picture.”
Perry added: “We found out on Friday [August 22]. My kids were jumping around going crazy. It is exciting. I just hope that it will make our house price go up. We didn’t get any compensation for it.
He said: “Some guys from my work were like, ‘Look, they have picked the new Harry Potter house’, and it was my home.”
Dominic McLaughlin will play as Harry Potter in the new HBO series. Photo / HBO
The father said he received a letter saying there would be filming on the road, but that it did not say it would be for Harry Potter.
“It was a bit of a shock. It is quite a big thing,” he said, adding that he was worried about the safety of his family as some fans have already visited.
“Since the news broke, we have already had a lot of people standing outside the house taking photos,” Perry said.
“We don’t know what it means for us in the future. The fact that we have already had people outside after dark when we have two young kids is very strange.”
In the Harry Potter books, Privet Drive is presented as an unassuming middle-class street and “the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen”.
Sue Baldwin, 63, who has lived on Springfield Gardens for over 20 years, said she is a fan of the series and was thrilled to find out it had been filmed on her road.
“They put letters through our door saying that something was being filmed here, and if we didn’t want our house in it we should let them know,” she said.
“We were very excited because we didn’t know what they were filming for. It was only when it was in the paper that I found out what it was.
“I am Harry Potter mad. We love to go to Disneyland to see all the Harry Potter stuff.”
The new series hopes to emulate the earlier films and will feature Arabella Stanton, Dominic McLaughlin and Alastair Stout as Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.
Arabella Stanton, Dominic McLaughlin and Alastair Stout will play Hermione, Harry and Ron. Photo / HBO
Nick Frost, who has been photographed during filming, will play Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper and groundskeeper at Hogwarts.
A complex is being built in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, for filming, The Sun newspaper reported. Photographs from the site show houses in a mock Tudor style similar to those on Springfield Gardens.
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