Filming on the third in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them franchise has been halted after a positive Covid test.

It is not known who the affected team member is, now in self-isolation, but Warner Bros. Pictures confirmed that the result had shown up during the ongoing testing programme that is in place for all crew and cast members.

Filming began on the feature last September, postponed from its original start date of last spring due to the pandemic. Eddie Redmayne stars alongside Jude Law and Mads Mikkelsen, who replaced Johnny Depp. Shooting is based at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden.

In a widely-reported statement, a spokeswoman said: “The diagnosis was confirmed as a result of required and ongoing testing that all production employees receive, and the team member is currently in isolation.

“Out of an abundance of caution, Fantastic Beasts 3 paused production and will be back up in accordance with safety guidelines.”

Productions all over the UK are working to extremely strict and regularly-updated safety guidelines as published last summer by the BFC, so projects having to halt temporarily is not an uncommon occurrence.

Image: © 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.