Stephen Fry 'free at last' after leaving Twitter

Stephen Fry has said the "fun is over" on Twitter after deactivating his account after he faced a backlash for calling the Best Costume Designer winner at the Bafta wards a "bag lady".

In an entry on his blog, titled "Too many people have p**d in the pool", he said leaving the microblogging site was a "massive relief".

"Like a boulder rolling off my chest. I am free, free at last", he added.

After writing about how much "fun Twitter was in the early days", he went on to describe it as now being like a "stagnant" pool.

As it pre-empting the response of fans that may accuse him of falling victim to internet troll, Fry said:

"But you’ve let the trolls and nasties win! If everyone did what you did, Stephen, the slab-faced dictators of tone and humour would have the place to themselves. Well, yes and they’re welcome to it."

The comedian, who was hosting Sunday's event, made a joke over Jenny Beavan's attire when she collected her award.

He said: "Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to the awards ceremony dressed like a bag lady."

Amid a subsequent barrage of criticism and calls for him to apologise, the 58-year-old said he had been joking about his "dear friend".

He went to call some Twitter users "sanctimonious" and "tragic" in their response to what he referred to as legitimate "joshing" before deleting his account.

It is the third time Fry has left the site, after a break in 2014 when he said he was filming in a place "whence I've been advised it is safest not to tweet".

He had announced her was "taking a holiday from Twitter" from February to May last year.