Hollywood star Keira Knightley was in Weston-super-Mare yesterday to shoot scenes for a new film.

The actress and fellow cast members of Never Let Me Go were at the Regent Restaurant and Coffee Lounge in Regent Street, while crowds gathered nearby to watch the star as she worked.

The production moved to Weston after filming scenes on the pier and beach at Clevedon on Thursday and more filming was expected to take place in North Somerset today.

Lighting rigs, cameras and film crews were set up outside the cafe while security teams controlled the crowds and traffic.

Producers Andrew Macdonald – who also produced Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and 28 Days Later – and Allon Reich said they selected the establishment because it had a retro seaside style perfect for the movie, which is set in the early 1990s.

Mr Macdonald said: "We are using this cafe and Clevedon Pier, as well as a few streets in Clevedon, for a made-up town, which is meant to be in the Norfolk area."

Mr Reich said: "Clevedon Pier was very specific as most piers have an arcade and we wanted a pier which could be walked along. It is just a beautiful pier.

"The cafe has a specific retro look as the film is set in the early 90s and this is going to be an old seaside cafe."

Miss Knightley – best known for her roles in Pirates of the Caribbean and Atonement – was on set yesterday with Carey Mulligan, who plays the lead character and previously acted alongside her in the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Also on set was Andrew Garfield, who previously starred in Hollywood thriller Lions for Lambs and the historical drama The Other Boleyn Girl.

Never Let Me Go is a science fiction story based on a Man-Booker Prize-nominated book by British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro and adapted by Alex Garland, who wrote The Beach and 28 Days Later.

It is set in an alternate Britain where clones are created purely to become organ donors when they reach adulthood but are unaware of this fact. It is set for release next year.