Ross Kemp has Channel 5 show visiting the world’s most dangerous prisons axed amid row over costs

Ross Kemp has seen his Channel 5 show about the world’s most dangerous prisons canceled halfway through filming its final season.

The star was busy filming his Ross Kemp: 72 Hours In… series, which would see him go behind bars in some of South America’s most dangerous prisons.

Despite filming one episode in Colombia last year, the entire series was scrapped amid a row over costs, with bosses at the channel reportedly unhappy at how expensive it was becoming to film.

This was then exacerbated by a coup in Ecuador days before production was due to begin in a prison in the country, with one insider claiming that the budget problems that followed made it ‘unrealistic to continue’.

Channel 5 has reportedly confirmed the cancellation of the series, which was hailed by the TV company as one of its top documentaries when it was announced last year.

Kemp was supposed to be recording an episode of his new series in Ecuador when violence broke out following a coup earlier this year. In the photo: Ecuadorian police arrest two suspected drug smugglers in Tonsupa, Ecuador on February 11

The TV star had already filmed one episode of the series in Colombia, but it might never see the light of day. Pictured: Two prison guards ride a motorcycle outside La Modelo prison in Bogota, Colombia, on January 25

However, the film is unlikely to hit screens in its current form and there are doubts that the episode filmed in Colombia will never be broadcast.

It is reported that tensions had increased between producers at Kemp’s Freshwater Films and Chalkboard TV and the network over the cost of the series, even while filming in Colombia.

The show was then halted mid-shooting in October due to ‘an incident’, the nature of which has not yet been revealed.

A Channel 5 spokeswoman told MailOnline at the time that filming had been halted ‘due to unforeseen production challenges’.

This was then followed by the outbreak of violence in Ecuador on the eve of the resumption of filming, which once again curtailed plans.

A source said Deadline: ‘Ecuador was a big episode and there was a really big issue that broke out literally days before filming. Budget problems then made it unrealistic to continue.’

They added: “Ross is the rubble in this. He went to the other side of the world to film an episode in a maximum security prison that will never be broadcast.’

A Channel 5 spokeswoman appeared to confirm the series’ cancellation, telling the publication: ‘Filming of the series had begun, but due to unforeseen production issues we have made the practical decision to halt filming and will not be progressing any further .’

MailOnline has contacted Channel 5 for comment.

The series would follow the BAFTA-winning documentary maker, actor and author behind bars in some of the most secure and high-risk prisons in the world, housing gang leaders, serial killers, violent criminals, drug lords and mass murderers. firsthand what it’s like to live among society’s most dangerous people.

The actor previously said of the show: ‘I’ve been to some of the toughest prisons in Britain and around the world.

‘I thought I’d seen it all and experienced every adventure, but this time we’re going even further than before!

‘I’m looking forward to my first documentary series with Channel 5 and taking you all on this journey with me.’