SIR Ian McKellen has joined British acting greats to call for visa-free EU travel for artists in the wake of Brexit.

The Bolton School old boy, along with Sir Patrick Stewart and Dame Julie Walters, put his name to an open letter to the Prime Minister urging him to act now or risk the UK's 'standing on the international cultural stage'.

The stars say that post-Brexit visa rules ‘towering hurdle’ for artists.

The letter penned by the Equity union, and signed by some of the biggest names in British theatre, states: "Before, we were able to travel to Europe visa-free. Now we have to pay hundreds of pounds, fill in form after form and spend weeks waiting for approval – just so we can do our jobs."

Those in the performing arts have already lost work, according to the letter.

More than 280,000 people have signed a petition calling for a cultural work permit deal to be reached between the Government and EU.

The statement, signed by more than 100 Equity members including Miriam Margolyes, Anne-Marie Duff and Celia Imrie, was first published in the Guardian newspaper.

It adds: “For a sector that is deeply embedded in the international community – from touring theatre and dance to film, television and commercials – which must work fast, flexibly and to demand, this is a disastrous blow and will hit those already struggling and marginalised groups the hardest.”

Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen at the unveiling an English Heritage blue plaque to commemorate Sir John Gielgud at number 16 Cowley Street in Westminster, London, where he lived for 31 years.Picture by Lauren Hurley/PA Wire.

Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen at the unveiling an English Heritage blue plaque to commemorate Sir John Gielgud at number 16 Cowley Street in Westminster, London, where he lived for 31 years.Picture by Lauren Hurley/PA Wire.

Government financial support has proven inadequate for many performing arts workers, according to the letter.

The letter adds: “Prime Minister, we urge you to negotiate new terms with the EU, allowing creative practitioners to travel to the EU visa-free for work, and for our European counterparts to be able to do the same in the UK.

“Not acting now will do further and irreparable harm to the UK’s creative workforce, our industries and to our standing on the international cultural stage.”

Equity general secretary Paul W Fleming said: “Art and entertainment are a British success story. Worth more to our economy than banking, government intransigence threatens a cornerstone of our international soft power and a key export.

“More than that, the language of art and entertainment knows no boundaries; freedom of movement for our members as artists and working people is achievable, desirable and essential.”

This is not the first time prominent figures from the arts world have criticised the Government’s Brexit deal.

In January more than 100 musicians, from pop singers to classical composers, signed a letter saying performers had been “shamefully failed” by the post-Brexit travel rules.