FANS of the Rise of the Footsoldier franchise have been promised the next instalment will be "the most violent yet".

The cast and crew for Tate: Two Days of Blood – A Rise of the Footsoldier Story have been spotted filming across Southend over the last month.

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The film will be the sixth instalment in The Rise of the Footsoldier franchise, a British crime and gangster series known for its brutal violence and gritty depiction of underworld crime.

Echo: Hard men - The castHard men - The cast (Image: Craig Fairbrass)

Star of the show, Craig Fairbrass, who plays notorious real-life Essex drug dealer Pat Tate, shared images on social media of the ongoing production.

“This is number six in the most successful franchise to ever come out of the UK,” Mr Fairbrass said.

“It will be the most brutal, most hard hitting and most violent one yet.”

Echo:

Pat Tate, aged 37, was found dead alongside two other drug dealers in a Range Rover parked on a small farm track on December 6, 1995,6 near the village of Rettendon.

The dead trio – part of the Essex Boys gang– have been subject to numerous investigations, documentaries and films.

Tate, Tony Tucker, 38, and Craig Rolfe, 26, were were major players in the Ecstasy trade that fuelled Britain’s booming rave scene in the 90s.

Three years after their death, two men were convicted of the murders and the case seemed to be closed.

However, interest lingers with the two imprisoned men, Jack Whomes and Mick Steele, maintaining their innocence to this day.

Tate: Two Days of Blood is the follow up to film to Rise of the Footsoldier: The Pat Tate Story which released in 2017.

The film, which takes more artistic licence than its biographical predecessor, will see Tate out on a rampage to avenge his friend's violent death.

To track down the killer, Tate ventures beyond his comfort zone of Essex and into the dark side of 90s London – although many scenes are being filmed in Essex.

A fundraising campaign to help the film get made raised more than £40,000 and offered fans a chance to meet the stars on set for £100.

One backer paid £10,000 to be punched by Craig Fairbrass.