Tom Cruise. (WENN)

Production on Tom Cruise's latest movie sparked a panic among residents of an English village this week when the sound of gunfire rang out across the neighbourhood.

Frightened residents in the village of Abbots Langley called police on Thursday night to report gun shots being fired, prompting officers from Hertfordshire Constabulary to launch an investigation.

They soon discovered the gun fire had been coming from the nearby Leavesden Studios, where Cruise has been filming his new movie All You Need is Kill with British actress Emily Blunt.

A representative for the studios then confirmed the shots were part of rehearsals for the movie.

A police spokesman tells local newspaper the Watford Observer, "At around 9 p.m. (on Thursday), police received two reports of the sound of distant gunfire from members of the public in the Abbots Langley and north Watford areas. Officers contacted security at Leavesden Studios who confirmed that rehearsals involving the use of firearms had been taking place there during the evening."