DIRECTOR of the new Transformers film Michael Bay has responded to critics who were left shocked after he decked Blenheim Palace out in Nazi flags.

The film maker sparked outrage on Thursday when pictures emerged of the palace near Woodstock adorned in swastikas during filming of the franchise’s latest movie, The Last Knight, with some suggesting it was disrespectful to turn Winston Churchill’s birthplace into Adolf Hitler’s base of operations.

As well as the flags, the grounds of the palace were filled with actors dressed in SS stormtroopers uniforms.

Mr Bay - famed for creating big-budget action blockbusters like Armageddon and Pearl Harbour - shot back yesterday, saying those complaining did not have the benefit of reading the script.

He told the BBC: “There’s a thing I saw in the paper about Blenheim and I just want to say that people were not fortunate enough to read the script.

“They don’t know that Churchill, in this movie, is a big hero and Churchill would be smiling about last night”.

Debate raged on social media after the pictures were revealed.

While some found the scenes inappropriate, others argued the reaction was overblown.

The Last Knight, set for a 2017 release, will be the fifth movie in the Transformers series and stars Mark Wahlberg.