Lord of the Rings actor supports striking cinema staff

The actor who played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films has lent his support to striking cinema staff.

Andy Serkis filmed a short clip in favour of today's walkout at Hackney Picturehouse. Workers are protesting outside Hackney town hall with colleagues from Brixton's Ritzy cinema to highlight the chain's refusal to pay the London Living Wage.

"They work incredibly hard," Serkis says in the video, which was posted on Facebook.

Staff hope their actions will encourage Picturehouse, which is owned by Cineworld, to increase their pay to £9.40 an hour.

In a statement, a spokesman for Picturehouse said a three-year agreement signed with union Bectu in 2014 set staff pay at £9.10 an hour from September this year, following phased increases.

He said the chain were disappointed by staff's decision to strike and noted that negotiations for 2017 pay rates are yet to begin.

"Our staff are hugely important to us, we pay fair wages and have a wide range of benefits within a good working environment," he added.

"Increases in pay for front of house people in Picturehouse cinemas have far outstripped inflation over the last three years."