Kevin Costner has revealed people tried to warn him off Croydon before be began shooting his latest movie in the town - but he ignored them because he liked the name.

The Oscar-winner filmed much of action thriller Criminal, in which he stars alongside Tommy Lee Jones, Ryan Reynolds and Gary Oldman, at Croydon College and other parts of the town centre in 2014.

The movie, which premiered in Mayfair last night, centre on Costner's psychopathic murderer, who has an intelligence agent's brain implanted into his head and must unravel a mystery to foil a terrorist plot.

The college was transformed into helicopter landing pad, a fugitive's hideout and CIA headquarters for the shoot after the "brutal architecture" of its Barclay Road campus attracted filmmakers.

Speaking to the Evening Standard last night, Costner said: "I was comfortable down there [in Croydon].

"People kind of gave it a weird rep and I thought, ‘No, we’re going to Croydon, I kind of like the name!’ So that’s the way I feel about it.

"London is one of the great cities of the world without a doubt. Every morning when I woke up I was like a child almost, I wouldn’t know where we would be and whether it was upscale or whatever you want to say it was."