The director of Brad Pitt's latest movie has offered his "heartfelt apologies" for filming battle scenes on Remembrance Sunday with extras wearing Nazi uniforms.

David Ayer, the director of Fury, apologised after residents of an Oxfordshire village were woken by the sound of explosions and gunfire in the small hours.

Scenes involving tanks and soldiers in Nazi uniforms were filmed until 2.30am on the makeshift battlefield in Shirburn, Oxfordshire, where the Hollywood blockbuster is being shot.

"My heartfelt apologies for any disrespect on Remembrance Day. I am a veteran myself. It is an honour to film here in the UK," said Ayer in a message on Twitter. He complained that "the story has been a tad exaggerated" and said they halted filming at 2am on Sunday.

Sony Pictures, the producer of the second world war movie, issued a separate apology stating that they "deeply regret any misunderstandings caused".

Residents of the Oxfordshire village were sent a letter in September informing them about the planned filming, which film bosses said would take place on the first two weeks in November. The filming has brought an influx of army tanks, artillery and makeshift tents to the idyllic country village, along with Hollywood A-listers Pitt, Jason Isaacs and Shia LaBeouf.

Ian Hill, chairman of the local parish council, sought to defuse the row on Tuesday saying that residents appeared more concerned about "mud on the roads" caused by the film crews rather than the "shooting and banging and all the rest of it".

"People up on the hill can hear it going on at night and they find it quite intrusive," he said, adding that the council had been told the crew would not film on Sunday or Monday. "I know at the time the parish council looked at it and thought it's not the ideal time to be doing this on Remembrance Day."