Video: Locals react as Fast and Furious 9 crews set up ahead of filming in Edinburgh

If there is one thing that the New Town is not short of, it is grey stone walls.

But when the technicians and set builders for the latest Fast and Furious movie arrived in the city to start preparing for the arrival of Vin Diesel and its other stars they brought their own walls with them.

The fake stone walls – made out of painted plywood – are expected to be smashed to smithereens in the coming days as filming starts on the action movie.

Yesterday, the film crew were lowering them into place on Waterloo Place, as the serious work of preparing the city for a month of filming got under way in earnest.

Fast and Furious 9 starts filming here and other locations in Edinburgh throughout the month. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Film crews arrived in the city centre yesterday working fast and furiously to pave the way for the stars of the latest Hollywood blockbuster to be shot in Edinburgh.

Crew working behind the scenes on the ninth instalment of the Fast and Furious franchise were seen working away in Waterloo Place and Calton Road, both of which will be closed until 12 September while filming takes place.

Officials at FF9 Productions Ltd contacted local residents and businesses in June and have earmarked a further 49 streets for filming, all of which will be closed in phases throughout September.

Technicians wasted no time in unloading props from flatbed lorries and setting them up in Waterloo Place as a curious public watched on.

Fake walls, made to resemble Edinburgh New Town stone, and dummy bus shelters were among some of the props that could well be used and abused during key action scenes.

At Calton Road, which is closed to traffic between Waverley Station and Leith Street, a queue of drivers could be seen being turned away.

ScotRail worker Steve Dulley, 47, fumed: “I didn’t know the road was going to be closed today and I’ve had to go all round Edinburgh to find somewhere to park; it’s not been good.”

The general consensus from the local business community, however, appears to be more positive.

Gordon Wallace, 27, who manages Leith Street’s Black Bull pub, believes the filming of the new Fast and Furious film will further boost an area that has already benefitted from appearances on the silver screen.

He said: “It will be a benefit to Edinburgh. We get a lot of folk coming down to the Black Bull pub to see the Trainspotting steps, filming themselves running up and down it, so I suppose it’s another thing to bring people into the area.”

Starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordan Brewster, Tyrese Gibson and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Fast and Furious 9 is set for a 2020 release.