Tom Hardy's deleted Last Jedi cameo will be included on the Blu-Ray release

Don't bother looking for Tom Hardy when watching Star Wars: The Last Jedi, as it's been confirmed that his much-mooted cameo as a stormtrooper was cut from the finished film.

The Taboo star was due to follow in the footsteps of actor Daniel Craig, who played a stormtrooper in 2015's The Force Awakens, but his scene has been left on the cutting room floor.

According to SlashFilm, the scene in question saw Hardy play a First Order stormtrooper with a thick southern accent (Hardy being true to form, then) who initially appears threatening, but is then revealed to be an old friend of John Boyega's Finn.

"I know who you are…. FN 2187!" Hardy's character says. "Damn boy, I never took you for officer material!"

The scene itself will reportedly be included on the DVD/Blu-Ray release of The Last Jedi, which is expected to hit stores in mid-2018.

Hardy previously played coy with rumours of his Star Wars involvement, telling the Hollywood Reporter in January that he could neither confirm or deny a possible role.

"Where did you hear that?" he asked. "Ah, the internet is a glorious web of deceit and misinformation, isn't it?"

Hardy is believed to be the only high-profile celebrity cameo cut from The Last Jedi, after it was revealed that Prince William and Prince Harry made the final edit, appearing in a scene dressed in stormtrooper outfits as they arrest characters played by Boyega and Benicio Del Toro.

Gary Barlow, who inexplicably also shot a cameo as a stormtrooper, is believed to have made it into the film, but no one has so far bothered to investigate.