New James Bond film to shoot scenes in Wharf

In the best secret service tradition the hotel refused to comment, but The Wharf has learned that shooting will take place over the next few weeks as production on the film, Craig's third as Bond, gets into full swing.

The film's producers Eon Productions also refused to confirm the shooting.

A spokeswoman said: "We would not usually say which locations we are using anyway. However, shooting began on the 007 stage at Pinewood on November 7."

Skyfall, is being directed by Sam Mendes and will co-star Pirates of the Caribbean actress Naomie Harris and Oscar winner Javier Bardem as the villain, while Dame Judi Dench will reprise her role as "M".

The movie is due for release next October.

Skyfall's screenwriter John Logan promised stunt scenes in the new film would be true to the Bond tradition, but would be appropriate to the story. Whether any of these will be set in the Wharf remains to be seen.

He told movie website Collider: "The important thing about action sequence is that the action is appropriate to the story, there's no such thing as generic action because then you're watching stunts, you're watching special effects.

"The important thing for me is making sure that the action belongs in that movie, cause there's such a thing as a Bond kind of action, and then there's a subset of that which is our Skyfall kind of action, they all have their own definitions."

It's not the first time London's Docklands have featured in a Bond film. The opening sequence of 1999's The World Is Not Enough, starring Pierce Brosnan, featured a high-speed boat chase through the area - including Wapping and the Royal Docks - culminating in a showdown at what was then the Millennium Dome, now The O2.

Craig also has previous form in Docklands, having been memorably dangled from the roof of the Marriott Hotel in West India Quay in 2004 gangster flick Layer Cake. He'll be hoping his experiences will be a little more civilised this time round.