Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Alfonso Cuaron's other films include Children of Men and A Little Princess

Crew members on the set of director Alfonso Cuaron's latest film have been involved in a fracas with local officials in Mexico City.

The film company has claimed five crew members were taken to hospital and personal effects were stolen.

The dispute occurred after officials tried to halt filming on the drama.

A police spokesman told the Associated Press there was "an exchange of words" followed by an "altercation" but that no injuries had been reported.

Cuaron, whose last film was the Oscar-winning Gravity, was reportedly not on set at the time of the incident.

The untitled film is said to depict "a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s".

According to the city's police department, a fight broke out after "a large group of people... who identified themselves as district authorities" arrived on set on Tuesday.

It is understood the officials began to confiscate traffic cones the crew had been using to rope off space.

Image copyright Warner Bros Image caption The director won two Oscars for his last film, 2013's Gravity

But the makers of the film have disputed that version of events, claiming members of the production team had been "assaulted" and that personal items were stolen.

"It was not a 'simple fight' like the authorities have reported," a letter obtained by the Deadline website reads.

"It was assault and there were people injured: two women were hit; five of our crew members were taken to the hospital; and phones, wallets and jewellery were stolen.

"It is alarming that union workers from the Cuauhtemoc District will attack and assault citizens that are legally doing their jobs," the letter continues.

The officials reportedly refused to accept the permits that had been obtained for the shoot, insisting that additional permits were needed.

The film is Cuaron's first movie to be shot in Mexico since 2001's Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too).

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