A HOLLYWOOD blockbuster which has scenes filmed in Kirkby Lonsdale has had its release date put back to January next year.

The market town was transformed last May as a production team descended to film scenes for a star-studded movie The Voyage of Dr Doolittle.

Kirkby Lonsdale played host to cast and crew from Universal Pictures for a chase sequence in the film, which was originally due to hit cinema screens this month.

But now the company says it will be premiered in the USA on January 17, 2020, and in the UK on January 31.

Taking the lead role as Dr Doolittle in the live action-animated hybrid is Ironman actor Robert Downey Jr, who discovers that he can talk to animals.

The film also features Antonio Banderas and Jim Broadbent and features the voices of Emma Thompson, Ralph Fiennes and Michael Sheen.

Filming in Kirkby Lonsdale involved a crew of around 350 people, who dressed shop fronts, put up false walls and added old carts and stalls to the town's historic streets