Harrison Ford suffers ankle injury on set of new Star Wars film

Actor Harrison Ford was injured on the set of Star Wars: Episode VII on Thursday and taken to a hospital for treatment, a Disney representative said.

Ford, 71, hurt his ankle while filming at Pinewood Studios, on the outskirts of London, England, Disney spokesman Paul Roeder said. Filming will continue on schedule while the American actor recovers. The actor was taken to nearby John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

Thames Valley Police said on its official Twitter feed that police responded to an incident where "a 71-year-old man was airlifted to hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening." A second tweet said the mishap "is believed to have involved a garage door." 

The accident wasn't a stunt sequence, but involved the door of a spacecraft from the film, The Associated Press reported.

The Hollywood Reporter said the spacecraft was the Millennium Falcon, the iconic ship piloted by Ford's character, Han Solo.

Vanessa Davies, a unit publicist for the new Star Wars film, said any reports that Ford suffered other injuries as well were untrue.

The actor is reprising his role as Solo in the highly anticipated Disney reboot of the Star Wars franchise, directed by J.J. Abrams and scheduled for release in December 2015.

It is the first of three new films that will continue the saga created by George Lucas, after Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4.05 billion US.

The film's plot has been kept a secret, but Abrams has said that as well as Ford, the cast includes:

• Carrie Fisher.
• Mark Hamill.
• Andy Serkis.
• Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o.

The movie is set 30 years after Return of the Jedi.