Nicole held to 'ransom' by angry residents

Nicole Kidman is used to stopping crowds... but this was one mob she really didn't want to spend too much time with.

The elegant Australian actress was held to 'ransom' by angry Roman residents who objected to her filming a publicity film for an Italian TV network.

Residents of Rome's notorious Testaccio district were upset that they were not getting compensation for the use of their neighbourhood as a backdrop for the ad.

They were also furious because Kidman's arrival brought chaos to their narrow streets with camera vans and equipment trucks blocking the way.

Producers even barred inhabitants of one apartment block from leaving or entering their homes while cameras were rolling.

And pavements were turned into a mass of electric cables. After a hastily arranged residents' meeting, the locals refused to allow Kidman, 39, into the 1930s tenement block.

They left the Oscar-winning actress - and star of such films as The Hours and Moulin Rouge - sitting in her trailer in soaring temperatures during a series of tense meetings with chiefs from Sky Italia.

Eventually, the TV bosses, who had hired Kidman's services for just 12 hours, caved in and handed over £17,000 to the delighted locals. Residents' spokesman Luigi Prosperi said: 'We had nothing against Nicole - she was fantastic and smiled and waved to us and said "Ciao" in Italian which was very nice of her.'

Kidman, who flew in secretly from London to film the advert, was eventually able to start shooting six hours behind schedule. And the name of the publicity campaign that caused all this fuss? Never Give Up Dreaming.