Downton Abbey star Allen Leech will return in the final series, it has been revealed, after he was spotted filming scenes on location.

The end of series five saw chauffeur-turned-estate-manager Tom Branson decide to leave Downton with daughter Sybil to start a new life in America.

But the Irish actor has been snapped in 1920s period clothing shooting scenes at Brooklands Museum in Surrey – the former site of the Brooklands racing circuit and aerodrome.

Show bosses had recreated a day out at the race track, complete with vintage cars and crowds of extras as guests and engineers all in period costume.

Brooklands was the world’s first purpose-built racing circuit when it first opened in 1907 and pulled in huge crowds for race meets until it closed in 1939.

Allen Leech as Tom Branson in Downton Abbey
Allen Leech as Tom Branson in Downton Abbey (Carnival Films/ITV)

In the last series if the ITV show widower Branson moved to Boston to work on a new farming machinery business with his cousin.

It was revealed in March this year that the next series of Downton will be the last, although there has been talk of a movie spin-off.